‘GOD SAVED ME’ Mum found floating at sea after two years missing ‘felt shark fins’ passing by her before miracle rescue

From The-Sun.com (Sept. 29, 2020):

Angelica Gaitan, 46, was found unconscious and suffering from hypothermia off the coast of Colombia after being in the sea for eight hours.

She was discovered by fisherman Rolando Visbal and a pal floating 1.2 miles off the town of Puerto Colombia on the Atlantic side of the country at around 6am on Saturday.

It reported her first words after being rescued were “I was born again, God did not want me to die” after she had jumped into the sea following mental health problems.

She was brought ashore where locals tended to her before she was taken to hospital.

Angelica was then reunited with her family as she told investigators what had happened to her since disappearing two years ago.

The Carribean sea where she was in is home to dangerous sharks, including tiger sharks and bull sharks.

During her time in the sea she said the creatures circled her as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

“I knew there are many sharks in that area and, I don’t know if in a hallucination I felt that a fin passed very close to me, but it didn’t stop,” she said.

But then with time beginning to run out, she had a miraculous stroke of luck when she was spotted by the fisherman, who initially thought she was a log until she waved her hand to summon help.

Dramatic video shows the moment Rolando and a friend known only as Gustavo came across Angelica, who appears to be completely unresponsive.

Rolando told Colombia’s Caracol Radio that they nearly didn’t go out fishing that day after problems with his boat’s engine delayed an earlier trip.

“If we hadn’t had the problem with the spark plug on Friday, we would have gone fishing that day and the woman would be dead at sea,” he said.

“Gustavo warned me to be careful with the trunk and I began to turn about 15 degrees to the right, then to my surprise the trunk moved. I thought it was something supernatural.”

The video shows Angelica being dragged towards the boat in a lifebuoy the pair had thrown to her and which she had used her last ounce of energy to put on.

The pair attempt to have a conversation with her and give her water but Angelica begins to cry as the video comes to an end.

Rolando said Angelica didn’t say anything when they hauled her on to deck and was so weak he believed she would have drowned if she had spent any longer in the sea.

“So it turns out that I didn’t catch any fish that day either, but I fished a life. I think this was God’s purpose.”

Mystery continues to surround exactly what happened during the time her family lost contact with her, with her account of fleeing domestic abuse at the hands of her partner disputed by her daughter. [read more]

A miracle indeed. Glad she was rescued in time.

Trump Praises Boeing Jet That Survived FlyDubai Attack

From Newsmax.com (Oct. 1):

President Donald Trump on Thursday commended Boeing for building a plane that withstood a dramatic midair incident on a flight headed to Israel.

Shortly after midnight, Trump praised the Boeing 737 MAX after the FlyDubai aircraft survived a violent cockpit altercation and a dramatic plunge before making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

"Congratulations to the GREAT Boeing Company for producing a plane, the 737 Max, that was able to withstand G Forces and Strain far beyond what it was designed and expected to do," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump called the incident an "amazing show of precise and powerful structural planning and design" and said Boeing deserved credit for the aircraft's "incredible 'genius!'"

He also congratulated Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and the company's employees.

FlyDubai Flight FZ1073 was traveling Wednesday from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 people aboard when the co-pilot allegedly stabbed Capt. Smit Machchhar and tried to crash the aircraft, according to Israeli officials.

Most of those aboard were Israelis.

Flight-tracking data showed the Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunging thousands of feet during the emergency.

The aircraft reportedly sustained rudder damage and endured an exceptionally steep descent before control was restored.

Despite being seriously wounded, Machchhar reportedly managed to open the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to confront the alleged attacker.

Passengers reportedly helped overpower the suspect, and other FlyDubai crew members aboard the aircraft ultimately took control and diverted the plane to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the suspect, an Omani national, was detained in Saudi Arabia.

Netanyahu praised those who intervened, saying they prevented a major disaster.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described the incident as an attempted terrorist attack, although authorities had not publicly established a motive.

The passengers later boarded a rescue flight to Israel, where Netanyahu welcomed them at Ben-Gurion Airport.

Machchhar, an Indian national, was hospitalized and reported in stable condition.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed him as a hero for continuing to protect those aboard despite his injuries.

FlyDubai has suspended flights to and from Israel while authorities investigate the incident.

The UAE's aviation regulator also opened an investigation into what it described as a security incident.

Trump's praise marked a high-profile endorsement of Boeing and its 737 MAX following years in which the aircraft manufacturer faced intense scrutiny over safety and quality control issues. [source]

Bravo to all those heroes who saved the plane from the terrorist. Prayers and thoughts go out to the pilot who got  attacked. A speedy recovery for him.

More on the story:

• Israel PM Hails Indian Pilot of Rerouted Flight for Averting Disaster
• Netanyahu says Flydubai attacker had 'Islamist radical indoctrination'
• Omani copilot’s social media ‘talks about killing Jews’; Israel will take part in probing him — official
• Flydubai hijacker researched airlines, planned killing pilot, crash into Tel Aviv skyscraper
• What If Those Passengers Had Stayed In Their Seats? [video]

This atheist says he died and returned - now, he believes in God

From J Post.com (Sept. 7, 2023):

There are many unanswered questions in life - the essence of life, existence beyond our planet, and what lies ahead after death. These mysteries have perplexed brilliant minds worldwide, with divergent beliefs about the afterlife.

While some strongly believe in heaven and hell or reincarnation, others deny the existence of an afterlife, proclaiming that we simply cease to exist. However, one man's encounter during a near-death experience challenges this disbelief.

Jose Hernandez, an avowed atheist, shares how a life-altering incident transformed his perspective. Speaking to the YouTube channel Shaman Oaks, Hernandez recounts his extraordinary journey that began with a routine work assignment as an engineer.

Hernandez's near-death experience occurred while fixing an electrical issue from atop a bucket truck.

"I was a staunch atheist. As an engineer, I focused solely on logical explanations," he said. "But that day, everything changed. We were running late, and my partner, concerned for my safety, inadvertently crashed our truck into a tree. The impact left me with multiple broken ribs, and I was rushed to the emergency room."

The critical moment

At the hospital, Hernandez's breathing ceased, and the medical staff fought desperately to save his life.

In that critical moment, he found himself contemplating God, making a promise, "If you get me through this, I'll change."

It was then that he noticed a mysterious presence in the room.

"I saw a shadow standing by the door. At that point, I thought, 'I've endured so much in life. Perhaps it's fine to let go.' And the moment the shadow touched my toe, an overwhelming sense of relief, calm, peace, and love engulfed me. It was euphoric."

As medical professionals performed CPR on him, Hernandez claims that the shadow spoke to him.

"Next, I found myself suspended in the corner of the room, observing the resuscitation efforts. A voice beside me said, 'Think of your body as a car. This vehicle has traveled 8 million miles, and there's nothing more we can fix. It's time to bid farewell to your body.' The voice instructed me, 'Okay, it's time to move on.'"

Following this, Hernandez describes a descent into a black hole, where he experienced flying and witnessed mesmerizing cities, breathtaking forests, and wild herds of animals in motion. In this celestial realm, he was assured that he would be able to see his children and, most significantly, he was reunited with his father.

"When I met my father on the other side, I realized that sometimes we may be unable to express certain things here, but elsewhere, we can."

Near-death experiences often share common elements, with many individuals reporting similar experiences during CPR.

While some interpret these encounters as evidence of consciousness beyond the physical realm, medical professionals offer a alternative explanation. Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry William Revill, in an article in the Irish Times, argues that near-death experiences reflect brain activity during moments of oxygen deprivation and increased carbon dioxide levels. He suggests that reports of a light at the end of a tunnel may be a result of falling oxygen levels in the retina, creating tunnel vision.

In Jose Hernandez's case, his near-death experience challenged his atheism and opened his eyes to the possibility of an afterlife.

Message of hope

His encounter offers a message of hope, echoing the experiences of others who have traversed the threshold between life and death. While the mysteries of life and death continue to captivate our curiosity, Hernandez's account reminds us that there is still much we do not yet comprehend, leaving room for exploration and contemplation. [source]

Nice!

Why Young Americans Are Not Taught About Evil

From Real Clear Politics.com (August 29, 2023):

Most of our schools teach almost nothing of importance, and nothing is more important than the study of good and evil. In the United States today, nearly all schools, from elementary through graduate, concentrate on teaching about racism, sexism, preferred pronouns, homophobia, transphobia, LGBTQIA+, climate change, diversity, equity, inclusiveness and white guilt. In other words, most of our educational institutions, including the most prestigious, do not educate.

Here are a few proofs.

It is almost certain that the great majority of American high school and college students (with the obvious exceptions of Christian students) could not name the Four Gospels (presuming they even know what they are); five of the Ten Commandments (presuming they know what those are); or the names of two Shakespeare plays. Most American students know little about the American Revolution, let alone about the French or Russian Revolutions. The same holds true for the Constitution and every other American founding document. It is doubtful that, other than Washington and Jefferson having owned slaves, American students know anything about these men or could name two other Founders.

When it comes to evil, the ignorance is enormous, often almost total. For example, according to Pew, about half of Americans ages 18-39 cannot identify Auschwitz or any other Nazi death camp. And there is every reason to assume that much fewer than half could identify the Gulag Archipelago (20 million-plus murdered); the Ukrainian forced famine (5 to 6 million murdered in a little over a year); Mao's Great Leap Forward (about 60 million murdered); or Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge (about one in every four Cambodians murdered).

As noted, almost no one outside of Russia has ever heard of the Russian Civil War, let alone knows anything about it. One reason is that the winners, the communists, had no desire that people know about it. Yet, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, about 10 million people, the great majority noncombatants, were killed.

Why don't students know about evil?

The first reason is that nearly all the genocides of the 20th century were committed by communists, and the Left, which runs virtually all educational institutions, has always had a soft spot for communism. If people were to recognize that communism has been the greatest source of evil in the modern age in terms of numbers murdered, number of lives destroyed, liberty stolen, and the sheer amount of human suffering inflicted (greater by those metrics than those of the Nazis before they were forcibly stopped), the Left would lose much of its appeal.

Another reason is the foolish notion that people are basically good. This has been a left-wing belief since the French Enlightenment leader Jean-Jacques Rousseau came up with the idea. As he wrote in his book, "On Philosophy, Morality, and Religion," "Man is a naturally good being, loving justice and order; there is no natural perversity in the human heart... All the vices imputed to the human heart are not natural to it."

This nonsense had been foreign to the Western mind. Its view of humanity was rooted in the Bible, and neither Bible-based religion -- Judaism or Christianity -- affirmed the goodness of the human heart. As Genesis states, "The will of man's heart is evil from his youth," and the rest of the Bible repeatedly warns us against following our hearts.

However, as the West began to abandon the Bible, including belief in the God of the Bible, Westerners began to believe in man. As Marx put it, "Man is God." People had no choice. For if there is no God to believe in, one must believe in man -- or one has literally nothing to believe in. Therefore, belief in man's inherent goodness became both psychologically and philosophically necessary.

A third reason follows from the second. With the exception of the mass murder of the Armenians (which was committed by Muslim Turks), the genocides and the other horrors of the 20th century were committed by secular regimes. Given the centrality of secularism to leftism, this fact has been kept from young people. Likewise, the fact that all these genocides were committed by big governments is not taught to young people because big government is also central to left-wing ideology. In other words, a true depiction of the evils of the 20th century would mean the end of the two pillars of left-wing ideology: secularism and big government.

If you want to make a more moral world, you must begin with the study of evil. But, for the reasons enumerated here, the Left is not -- and cannot be -- interested in fighting real evil. So, the Left fights made-up evils: American systemic racism, transphobia, capitalism, carbon emissions, sexism and former President Donald Trump, to name a few.

This is why young people know almost nothing about evil. The Left doesn't want them to know about it. Because knowledge of evil inevitably leads directly to rejection of the Left. [source]

Great points. Dennis Prager's last comment sums his essay up quite nicely: "This is why young people know almost nothing about evil. The Left doesn't want them to know about it. Because knowledge of evil inevitably leads directly to rejection of the Left."

AI and Smart Wisdom

From John Stonestreet on Breakpoint.org (Apr. 27):

Recently, Jensen Huang, CEO and co-founder of  NVIDIA, was asked to name the smartest person he knew. He replied by suggesting that the meaning of“smart” has been made obsolete by machines. He then offered an updated definition:

I think long term the definition of smart is someone who sits at that intersection of being technically astute, but human empathy and having the ability to infer the unspoken, around the corners, the unknowables.

Recently, my Colson Center colleague Dr. Glenn Sunshine suggested that if a scholar from hundreds of years ago was shown what AI can do, he’d be both impressed and disappointed. “You know a lot,” he might observe, “but you understand nothing.” As much as our machines can do, more is not always better. Having all the information and data from history, science, literature, art, philosophy, and medicine constantly accessible at our fingertips is hardly making us wiser.

Last month, a quote from the novel Dune went viral on X. It read, “Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.” Of course, Frank Herbert, who wrote the sci-fi series, was basically repeating an earlier observation from C.S. Lewis.

In a recent controversial essay entitled “Something Big is Happening,” Matt Shumer, CEO of OthersideAI, sparked an intense and wide-ranging conversation with this stark admission:

I am no longer needed for the actual technical work of my job. I describe what I want built, in plain English, and it just . . . appears. Not a rough draft I need to fix. The finished thing. I tell the AI what I want, walk away from my computer for four hours, and come back to find the work done. Done well, done better than I would have done it myself, with no corrections needed. A couple of months ago, I was going back and forth with the AI, guiding it, making edits. Now I just describe the outcome and leave.

Shumer is not bragging. He’s alarmed about the future of work and the need for humans to do it in the world he is helping to create. You might say that he is concerned that AI will replace human work. We should also consider how our technologies have replaced human wisdom.

Nearly a century ago, in his “Choruses from ‘The Rock,’” TS Elliot foresaw this confusion:

Endless invention, endless experiment,

Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;

Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.

All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,

All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,

But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.

Or, as C.S. Lewis put it in The Abolition of Man,

For the wise men of old, the cardinal problem of human life was how to conform the soul to objective reality, and the solution was wisdom, self-discipline, and virtue. For the modern, the cardinal problem is how to conform reality to the wishes of man, and the solution is a technique.

What has been lost in the uncritical embrace of technological advancement are the insights of ancient wisdom. Lost in the consistent pursuit of ease and pleasure are the habits that cultivate virtue. It’s not fundamentally a question of being for or against specific technologies. It’s that it is not sufficient to be technically “smart” if we are not also morally wise. What matters most for our collective futures are not which capacities and tools we can develop, it is what sort of people we are.

Knowledge can be dangerous when in the hands of the foolish, the immoral, or the wicked. Wisdom is not just the ability to “see around the corners of life.” Rather, it is the ability to live in light of what is true and good. It is about knowing the realities of the world, seen and unseen, and bowing to the One who created it this way. [source]

Don’t think AI will ever have smart wisdom that’s why people can’t lose it and should cherish it.

Chinese province’s new ‘Smart Religion' app makes Christians register to attend worship services

From Christian Post.com (Mar. 11, 2023):

Christians in China's populous Henan province are now reportedly required to register on a government app to attend worship services and must make online reservations before taking part in worship, according to a report from a U.S.-based human rights group.

The app, called "Smart Religion" and developed by the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Henan Province, asks believers to give personal information, including their name, phone number, government ID number, permanent residence, occupation and date of birth to receive approval to attend a service, ChinaAid reported this week.

It's a requirement not only for churches but also mosques and Buddhist temples, states the group, which documents religious persecution in China and supports Chinese prisoners of conscience.

Henan has one of the largest Christian populations in China. Local Christians say the cumbersome application procedures have reduced the number of believers attending churches. According to the Texas-based nongovernmental organization, many elderly people and those less tech-savvy may find it challenging to access the app. However, officials say such people will be assisted.

Once allowed into a place of worship, believers must also have their temperature taken, the group said, commenting that the app may be related in some way to COVID-19 restrictions.

ChinaAid contends these management measures were not implemented to protect people's religious rights but rather as a means to achieve political purposes.

"This so-called 'Smart Religion' online application has been officially launched in some parts of Henan. In August 2022, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau of Puyang County in Henan and the Henan Billion Second Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. signed a project contract for the 'Construction of an Independent Command Platform for the Management of Smart Religion,'" China Aid Special Correspondent Gao Zhensaithe wrote.

"According to the official website of the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs of China, as early as July 2020, at the symposium on the construction of a religious big data management platform held in Henan, several platform projects, such as the construction of 'Smart Religion,' were inspected. The digital platform is the foundation of the religious affairs management improvement project, and the China Construction Bank of the Henan Branch provided technical support."

China only recognizes five religious groups that submit to the government's influence. Christians from unregistered churches bear the brunt of the persecution.

In a report released last month, ChinaAid said the Chinese Communist Party intensified the persecution of churches and Christians leading up to the 20th Party Congress in 2022.

"Fraud" charges being brought against house church pastors and leaders in mainland China had increased, with the traditional practice of tithing and offering in churches being seen as an illegal activity, the report said.

The authorities allegedly used the updated "Measures for the Financial Management of Religious Activity Venues," implemented last June, to fabricate charges against house churches.

"We are gravely concerned about how the Communist regime also treats the State-sanctioned church," ChinaAid's President and Founder Bob Fu said in a statement. "Previously, they asked for sole allegiance to the Communist Party, but since the 20th National Party Congress, they shifted their emphasis to aligning with Xi Jinping."

"Their goal," he added, "is not only to curate a 'socialist-friendly' church; they hope to erase it. The international community needs to know about these trends and developments as China continues to rise on the global stage."

The Chinese Communist Party remains focused on religious sinicization.

"Before, during, and after the opening of the Congress, China's state-run religious groups lavished compliments and praise on Xi with more extravagant words and phrases than China's state-run media, showing that religious Sinicization is evolving from supporting the CCP to worship and allegiance to Xi Jinping," the report added.

The Chinese government also implemented strict regulations against religious content on the internet, which ChinaAid contends was aimed at "removing Christianity from cyberspace." The group stresses that Christians have faced "unprecedented" online censorship since the implementation of the "Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information and Services" in 2022.

China is ranked as the 16th worst country when it comes to Christian persecution, according to the 2023 Open Doors World Watch List.

"Tightening restrictions and increasing surveillance are putting Christians in China under intensifying pressure, as the Communist Party seeks to limits all threats to its power," Open Doors, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, states in a factsheet. [source]

Just terrible, then that’s the Chi-Coms for you. Always persecuting.

Islamic extremists disguised as military separated Christians from crowed, slit their throats: bishop

From Christian Post.com (Oct. 7, 2022):

Suspected Islamic extremists disguised in military uniform gathered a crowd of people in Mozambique’s Nampula province, then separated the Christians from the group and tied their hands before slitting their throats, a Catholic bishop said.

Bishop Alberto Vera Aréjula of Nacala told the Catholic group Aid to the Church in Need this week about the killings that occurred last month as was told to him by one of the Christian survivors who managed to flee.

The survivor told the bishop that the terrorists were dressed in military uniform and they gathered people saying they were there to save them.

“When they were all gathered, they started asking who is Muslim and who is Christian. Those who identified as Christian, they started tying their hands behind their back and they cut their throats,” the bishop was quoted as saying.

The bishop said the killings took place on the night of Sept. 6 and the following day, and that “11 people were murdered in total and they left a trail of destruction and a lot of fear.”

On Sept. 6, an 83-year-old Italian nun, Sister Maria de Coppi, was killed in Chipene city when gunmen stormed a Catholic mission compound and set fire to buildings, including the church and hospital, according to reports.

The attack lasted five hours as the militants ransacked and burned the Diocese of Nacala’s mission church, school, health center, dwellings, library and vehicles, Aid to the Church in Need reported earlier.

Aréjula said he knew the nun, “and she was the image of a mother, she was really helping everyone with simple love and humility.”

“Sister Maria de Coppi was a nurse who would help malnourished children in a little room where there was milk and flour, and they destroyed that room as well.

According to reports, the gunmen were likely running away from security forces from Mozambique, Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community.

At least 24 countries have sent troops to support the fight against insurgents in Mozambique, whose army has been accused of being corrupt and having 7,000 “ghost soldiers,” according to the BBC.

Islamic State-affiliated insurgents in northern Mozambique, a Christian-majority country, have internally displaced more than three-quarters of a million people, according to the United Nations.

In the coastal province of Cabo Delgado, Islamic extremists have been exploiting the crisis after a civil war started in 2017. The area is rich with gas, rubies, graphite, gold and other natural resources. Protesters demonstrated at the time against what they say is profits going to an elite in the ruling Frelimo Party, with few jobs for local residents.

“In 2017, jihadist insurgents began in the Cabo-Delgado province, winning over some locals due to the fact that they gave back resources to villagers from the government and killed no one,” the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported earlier. “This did not last, however, as IS started setting fire to Christian villages, and killing those who lived there.”

Cabo Delgado is a mostly Muslim region where at least 300 Christians have been killed for their faith, according to ICC. There have also been over 100 attacks on churches in the area.

In March 2021, the United States labeled Islamic State-Mozambique as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists.” ISIS-Mozambique is also known as Ansar al-Sunna and known locally as al-Shabaab. The group reportedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State as early as April 2018 and has killed hundreds, if not thousands, of civilians.

In November 2020, Islamic State-linked militants beheaded over 50 people, including women and children, and abducted others in weekend raids in the Miudumbe and Macomia districts of the Cabo Delgado province.

Last December, Human Rights Watch revealed that insurgents had enslaved more than 600 women and girls, many of which had been abused and sold as sex slaves for as low as $600. [source]

Pure intentional evil.

A Reminder About the Moral Difference Between the Christian and Muslim Worlds at This Time

From Townhall.com (Aug. 16, 2022):

About 30 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued his fatwa calling for Muslims to murder Salman Rushdie, the Indian author was finally attacked and nearly killed.

Stabbed 10 times by a young Muslim living in America, Rushdie is in a hospital, where his prognosis as of this writing is partial paralysis and the loss of an eye.

What was Rushdie's "crime"? He "insulted" Islam.

Tens of millions of Muslims believe that if a person insults Islam, Muhammad or the Quran, he should be killed. Any Muslim who does kill a person deemed to have insulted Islam goes straight to heaven when he or she dies.

The most famous case of Muslims murdering people charged with insulting Islam occurred in 2015, when two French Muslims entered the Paris editorial offices of the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, and murdered 12 people and wounded 11 others. Charlie Hebdo had printed cartoon images of Muhammad, which most Muslims consider forbidden even to non-Muslims.

That same week, Muslims also entered a kosher supermarket in Paris and murdered four Jews. For many Muslims, Jews don't have to do anything to insult Islam; their mere existence is an insult to Islam.

It is instructive to compare Christian reactions to insults to Christianity with Muslim reactions to what they perceive as insults to Islam.

If Christians reacted to insults to Christianity the way Muslims react to insults to Islam, there would be daily murders in America and elsewhere. Christianity is constantly insulted in America and elsewhere in the West, and Christians are regularly murdered by Muslims in the Middle East and Africa.

Perhaps the famous example of the former is the "artwork" by Andres Serrano titled "Piss Christ," which features a crucifix in a jar of urine.

Imagine how many people radical Muslims would kill if a Quran or an image of Muhammad submerged in a jar of urine were displayed in museums around America. It would never happen because museums would never put their staff or their visitors in that kind of danger. Museum staff and visitors to museums that featured this work would be killed.

Why doesn't that argue for the moral superiority of most Christians relative to most Muslims at this time in history? After all, some scholars argue that Muslims and Muslim civilization were morally superior to Christians and Christian civilization at various times during the Middle Ages. Whether or not that is accurate, no one charges the scholars who make that argument with an anti-Christian phobia or with harboring anti-Christian bigotry. Yet, anyone who would argue that contemporary Christian civilization is on a more elevated level than Muslim civilization -- while of course acknowledging that this does not apply to all Muslims or to all Christians -- would be attacked as an "Islamophobe," lose his reputation and quite possibly lose his job and career.

This inability to judge the West -- which was created by Christians and has, with all its many flaws, been rooted in Judeo-Christian morality -- as morally more elevated than the Muslim world goes to the heart of the crisis facing the West: the Left's desire to destroy it. Western elites in academia, media, politics and the business world -- in short, everywhere -- are moral fools.

They claim to be unable to make moral distinctions between the two civilizations -- because of Western slavery and treatment of native populations, for example. Yet, they either do not know or simply ignore Muslims' far worse history of slavery and wiping out native populations. And they know but choose to ignore the fact that the worldwide antislavery movement began in the West and was founded by Christians. It did not begin in the Muslim world, which had no such widespread movement.

The Left has the same morally bankrupt view regarding Israel and its Muslim enemies. On the Left, Israel, with its robust freedoms that extend to its large Muslim minority, is not morally superior to its unfree, terror-honoring Muslim neighbors (e.g., Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Hamas).

It is true that it was only one Muslim who stabbed Salman Rushdie. But it is millions of Muslims who believe anyone who "insults" Islam should die. It was also one Muslim who murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh for "insulting" Islam's take on women. And it was a lot more than one Muslim member of the Islamic State who slit the throats and beheaded countless infidels -- that is, non-Muslims.

Author Taslima Nasrin fled her native Bangladesh, fearing for her life, after a court said she had hurt Muslims' religious feelings with her novel "Lajja" ("Shame"). Unlike virtually every Western author and leader, her reaction to the attack on Rushdie noted that the would-be murderer was Muslim: "I just learned that Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York. I am really shocked… If he is attacked, anyone who is critical of Islam can be attacked."

Exactly. [source]

5 Christian evangelists traveling to plant new church thrown off boat and drowned in Uganda

From Christian Post.com (Sept. 9, 2022):

NAIROBI, Kenya — Muslim extremists killed five Christian workers by throwing them off a boat into central Uganda’s Lake Kyoga, sources said.

The evangelists from End Time Word Ministry church were traveling on Aug. 10 from Nakasongola District to Apac District on a commercial transport boat with plans to plant a church in the Aduku area, a Christian survivor of the attack told Morning Star News.

The survivor, Amos Kyakulaga, a deacon at a church in Namutumba who was acting as a guide, said the five evangelists began proclaiming Christ to a group of 10 Muslims in Islamic attire aboard the boat.

“On our way, Tonny Ankunda started preaching to the people on the boat, which resulted in a huge argument between Muslims and the missionaries concerning the Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Kyakulaga told Morning Star News.

He said one of the Muslims, identified only as Bashir, began threatening the Christians, saying, “If you continue insisting that Jesus is the Son of God, then Allah will kill all of you.”

Citing Scripture, the evangelists continued affirming the sonship of Christ and, according to Kyakulaga, Bashir told them, “We are giving you one last minute to stop your blasphemy and to convert by confessing the shahada (Islamic creed), or else your lives are at risk.”

When the five evangelists refused to renounce Christ, the Muslims seized them and pushed them off the boat one by one, Kyakulaga said. While the lake is only 4 to 5.7 meters deep, they were 200 meters from shore, and all five Christians drowned.

The 10 Muslims aboard were in agreement that the Christians should be killed, and neither they nor the boat’s pilot did anything to intervene, Kyakulaga said.

The Muslims asked him if he was one of the missionaries, sparing him when he said he was not part of the church-planting team, he said. When the boat docked, he took a motorcycle to the church in Aduku that had invited them, where an elder obtained help from local officials and a fishing group to find and remove the bodies from the lake.

Morning Star News has obtained photos of the bodies of the five victims: Ankunda, 44; Peter Agaba, 28; Juliet Ashaba, 39; Johnson Karungi, 27; and Julius Lweere, 52.

Police have contacted officials in Nakasongola District and leaders of the sending church of the Christians, a church source in Aduku said.

Along with Bashir, two other suspects were identified as Jamil Budde and Juma of Nakasongola.

The attack was the latest of many instances of persecution of Christians in Uganda that Morning Star News has documented.

Uganda’s constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one’s faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12% of Uganda’s population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country. [source]

Pure evil.

Obama-era CIA Cover-up, the Havlish Lawsuit and Islamists Groups

On December 22, 2011, U.S. District judge George B. Daniels ruled in Havlish, et al. v. bin Laden, et al., that Iran and Hezbollah were liable for damages to be paid to relatives of the victims of the September 11, 2001, jihad attacks in New York and Washington, as both the Islamic Republic and its Lebanese proxy had actively aided al-Qaeda in planning and executing those attacks.

Daniels found that Iran and Hezbollah had cooperated and collaborated with al-Qaeda before 9/11 and continued to do so after the attacks.

…..

The Obama-era CIA went to great pains to try to ensure that information about Iran's role in 9/11 did not come out in the Havlish case. In August 2010, a CIA official pressured a Havlish witness to withdraw his testimony in exchange for a new identity, new passport, and new job. In December of that year, another CIA operative approached a different Havlish witness, showed him documents stolen from the case, and took him to a U.S. embassy, where he was subjected to five hours of interrogation and finally offered cash if he recanted his testimony. Says Timmerman, "After I reported those attempts at witness tampering to a Congressional oversight committee, they ceased."

Judge Daniels determined that Iran, Hezbollah, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and other Iranian government departments, as well as the Ayatollah Khamenei himself and former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani were all directly implicated in Iranian efforts to aid al-Qaeda in its 9/11 plot. He awarded the plaintiffs in the Havlish case 394,277,884 dollars for economic damages, as well as ninety-four million dollars for pain and suffering, eighty hundred and seventy-four million for mental anguish and grief, and 4,686,235,921 dollars in punitive damages, along with nine hundred and sixty-eight million in prejudgment interest, for a total of 7,016,513,805 dollars.

..….

In it, Muslim Brotherhood members were told that the Brotherhood was working on presenting Islam as a "civilizational alternative" to non-Islamic forms of society and governance, and supporting "the global Islamic state wherever it is." In working to establish that Islamic state, Muslim Brotherhood members in the United States: "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions."

The Muslim Brotherhood has been active in the United States for decades, and is the moving force behind virtually all of the mainstream Muslim organizations in America: the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), the Muslim Students Association (MSA), the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT), and many others.

Source: The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS (2018) by Robert Spencer.

Hitler, Islam, Iran, Hezbollah and 9/11

One twentieth-century European, however, was disappointed that Charles Martel had defeated the warriors of Islam, for the same reason that Gibbon was relieved. He exclaimed:

Had Charles Martel not been victorious at Poitiers—already, you see, the world had fallen into the hands of the Jews, so gutless a thing was Christianity!—then we should in all probability have been converted to Mohammedanism, that cult which glorifies heroism and which opens the seventh heaven to the bold warrior alone. Then the Germanic races would have conquered the world. Christianity alone prevented them from doing so.

The man expressing that regret was Adolf Hitler.

…….

[U.S. District judge George B.] Daniels found that Iran and Hezbollah had cooperated and collaborated with al-Qaeda before 9/11 and continued to do so after the attacks.

Before 9/11, Iran and Hezbollah were implicated in efforts to train al-Qaeda members to blow up large buildings—resulting in the bombings of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

Shortly after the Cole attack, the 9/11 jihad plot began to come together—and Iran was involved. Former MOIS operative Abolghasem Mesbahi, a defector from Iran, testified that during the summer of 2001, he received messages from Iranian government officials regarding a plan for unconventional warfare against the U.S., entitled “Shaitan dar Atash” (“Satan in Flames”).

“Satan in Flames” was the elaborate plot to hijack three passenger jets, each packed full of people, and crash them into American landmarks: the World Trade Center, which jihadis took to be the center of American commerce; the Pentagon, the center of America’s military apparatus; and the White House.

A classified National Security Agency analysis referred to in the 9/11 Commission report reveals that eight to ten of the 9/11 hijackers traveled to Iran repeatedly in late 2000 and early 2001. The 9/11 Commission called for a U.S. government investigation into Iran’s role in 9/11, but none was ever undertaken. Kenneth R. Timmerman of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran was, in his words, “engaged by the Havlish attorneys in 2004 to carry out the investigation the 9/11 Commission report called on the U.S. government to handle.”

Timmerman noted that during the 9/11 hijackers’ trips to Iran, they were “accompanied by ‘senior Hezbollah operatives’ who were in fact agents of the Iranian regime.” Iranian border agents did not stamp their passports, so that their having been inside the Islamic Republic would not arouse suspicion against them when they entered the United States.

The CIA, embarrassed by its failure to recognize the import of these trips, tried to suppress this revelation. But Timmerman contends that even the available evidence is explosive enough, revealing that the Islamic Republic of Iran, in his words:

• helped design the 9/11 plot; 
• provided intelligence support to identify and train the operatives who carried it out;
• allowed the future hijackers to evade U.S. and Pakistani surveillance on key trips to Afghanistan where they received the final order of mission from Osama bin Laden, by escorting them through Iranian borders without passport stamps;
• evacuated hundreds of top al-Qaeda operatives from Afghanistan to Iran after 9/11 just as U.S. forces launched their offensive;
• provided safe haven and continued financial support to al-Qaeda cadres for years after 9/11;
• allowed al-Qaeda to use Iran as an operational base for additional terror attacks, in particular the May 2003 bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

The Ayatollah Khamenei knew about the plot. During the summer of 2001, he instructed Iranian agents to be careful to conceal their tracks and told them to communicate only with al-Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and Imad Mughniyah of Hezbollah.

Source: The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS (2018) by Robert Spencer.

More reasons why Trump felt compelled to stop Iran.

Why We Should Thank God that Our Sun is So ‘Boring’

From Breakpoint.org (May 29, 2020):

Recently, a New York Times article drew attention to a corona that’s not a virus and that makes life possible instead of threatening it. The corona, or outermost part of the sun’s atmosphere, puzzles astronomers because it is, as compared with similar stars, so calm.

We take the sun for granted, unless it disappears for a few cloudy days or burns us at the beach or, less often, disrupts satellite communications. Once every century or so, it might burp enough energy to fry technology and maybe even ignite the Northern Lights over the Caribbean, as happened in 1859.  Aside from instances such as these, it’s easy to forget that the local star that warms our faces and wakens our flowers, this “blazing ball of fusion-powered plasma,” is actually capable, at least in theory, of scorching our planet and all of us to a lifeless cinder.

However, a new paper published in the journal “Science” suggests that’s exactly the sort of thing we should expect from the sun, if it behaved like other stars of its kind. But it doesn’t. The good news is, as the Times put it, the star around which we orbit is downright “boring” compared with its solar siblings.

Astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, after compiling data from NASA’s retired Kepler space telescope, which spent years monitoring 150,000 distant stars, concluded that our sun’s relative calm is among the reasons we are here at all.

After identifying 369 comparable stars in our galaxy, these scientists learned something astounding: The magnetic activity that creates the sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections on other stars is, on average, five times more intense than on our sun. On many stars that were studied, disruptions were even twelve times more intense. That level of chaos makes life in their orbits virtually impossible.

So why would our sun behave so differently than all the others? One unsettling theory, especially given the “what else could possibly go wrong” start to 2020, is that our sun is currently asleep, but might, at some point, wake up and blast us with deadly levels of radiation.  Another idea is that our sun is aging, and because it is now over-the-hill, has fewer bursts of energy to give off.

That sounds reasonable to those of us reaching middle age.

Currently, according to researchers, one theory is not to be favored over another, but what is clear, as the Times observes, is that our sun’s relative tranquility has unquestionably “benefited our species.” As the study’s lead author put it, “It may be no coincidence that we live around a very inactive star.”

Of course, coincidence is the only reason that anyone already committed to naturalism can feasibly offer. If, however, the blinders of that particular worldview are removed, there’s a third possible explanation: Our host star is uniquely friendly to life because it was finely-tuned by God to support life.

In the marvelous book, “The Privileged Planet,” Jay Richards and Guillermo Gonzalez list the many features that make our Earth, sun, and our corner of the universe uniquely suited for life.

Not only do we have the right kind of star, we are just the right distance from that star. We are at the right location in the galaxy. We are in a solar system with gas giants that shield us from wandering asteroids and comets. We have a moon just the right size to stabilize our axis and create tides and seasons. We are on a planet with land, liquid water, oxygen, plate tectonics, and a molten iron core to generate a magnetosphere.

Tally up all these factors, as Richards and Gonzalez do, and it’s a dizzying improbability that we would be here at all: something like 1 out of 1 followed by 15 zeroes.

And yet, here we are, bathed in the warmth of a star scientists increasingly recognize as rare and hospitable. Our brightest minds could hardly imagine, much less attempt to design, a better solar system. All of which is why we ought to thank the brightest of all minds, the One who also made our own minds bright enough to discover all of these remarkable things about our privileged planet, our privileged place in the universe, and our blessedly boring sun. [source]

Thank God the sun is “boring.”

What “Separation of Church and State” Is Really About

From Breakpoint.org (July 14, 2022):

In response to the recent Dobbs decision and the Supreme Court’s clear, consistent support for religious liberty throughout this term, many progressives are warning of an imminent “Christian theocracy.” Among the loudest voices predicting our collective doom are mainstream media outlets. For example, a recent story in Reuters claimed, “U.S. Supreme Court Takes Aim at Separation of Church and State.”

What’s missing in virtually all of these pieces is a proper understanding of the “establishment clause.” The establishment clause is derived from the opening lines of the First Amendment which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof …” There are two ways this statement is commonly misunderstood.

First, it is often described as establishing a “wall of separation between church and state.” In fact, those words are found nowhere in the Constitution. The phrase actually was coined later in a letter by Thomas Jefferson. Second, and more importantly, it is assumed that if organized religion cannot be supported by the state, then secularism is somehow “neutral.” Thus, by default, anything goes as long as it’s “secular.”

Understanding the historical context is essential. In the 18th century, an “established” religion referred to an official state church. In the U.S., individual states had already established churches, such as the Anglican Church in Virginia. The First Amendment specifically applied to Congress and prohibited a national church. To prefer the Anglican Church over the Congregationalists or Presbyterians would, at the time, mean alienating certain citizens and entire states. States continued to have established churches well into the 19th century.

In addition, the First Amendment was not intended to prohibit religious activities in governmental institutions. From the very beginning, Congress started each session with prayer. That continues today and is led by an official chaplain.

Our founding fathers, particularly James Madison, believed that religious liberty was an innate right, and inseparable from the freedom of conscience. He also believed that religion would better flourish in a free marketplace of ideas. That thinking was the basis for the free exercise clause.

This understanding of the freedom of conscience is the foundation for the other freedoms protected in the First Amendment. Without conscience rights, we cannot truly speak, write, assemble, or advocate freely from our deepest beliefs. That’s why the freedom of religion is often called “the first freedom.” Its position in the Bill of Rights highlights its importance.

Although the rights of conscience should not be controversial, somehow, that’s what they have become. How this happened is worth considering. By claiming secularism to be neutral, proponents of secularism ,as far back as the 19th century, attempted to broadly apply laws originally intended by Protestants to prevent Catholic schools from accessing state funds. In the 20th-century, secularists embraced the concept of “a living Constitution” in order to transform the meaning of the First Amendment, attempting to keep religious institutions from accessing state funds and allowing only “secular” views in the public arena.

Though many court cases illustrate this, among the more important was Torcaso v. Watkins (1961), which declared unconstitutional Maryland’s requirement that officeholders state belief in God. Rather than ruling on the basis of Article VI, which prohibits religious tests for public office, the Supreme Court ruled on the basis of the establishment clause of the First Amendment and of the Fourteenth Amendment, which prohibits states from violating the rights guaranteed to U.S. citizens. The same line of reasoning has since been used to challenge prayers at public meetings, Bible studies in schools, and nativity scenes on public property. In the process, the First Amendment was turned on its head, taking a clause intended to keep the state from backing any one denomination and construing it to position the state in opposition to all organized religions.

In footnote 11 of the Torcaso v. Watkins decision, Justice Hugo Black listed secular humanism as one of a number of religions “which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God.” Calling humanism a religion was not outlandish.  For a century, humanists such as John Dewey and Julian Huxley had defined their beliefs as a religion. After all, secularism involves certain claims about the cosmos, existence, and human nature.

And yet in 1994, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled in Peloza v. Capistrano Unified School District that while “religion” should be broadly interpreted for free exercise clause purposes, “anything ‘arguably non-religious’ should not be considered religious in applying the establishment clause.” In other words, secular organizations were able to play both sides, qualifying as a religion for the free exercise clause but free from constraints from the establishment clause.

To further determine whether religious activities could utilize public spaces, the Supreme Court derived the so-called “Lemon Test” in the case Lemon v. Kurzman (1991). According to this rule, a religious activity is only licit on public grounds if it performs a secular purpose, neither advances nor inhibits religion, and does not foster excessive government entanglement in religion. This test maintained an obviously secular bias: Secular organizations were not required to pass any tests to obtain access.

In the recent decision in the Coach Kennedy case, the Supreme Court continued its long-overdue corrections to the anti-religious way the First Amendment had been interpreted. Particularly by unequivocally tossing the “Lemon Test,” the Court has stopped the active suppression of religious beliefs and practice. We ought not fear an impending theocracy, but instead welcome a redress to the unjust and ahistorical understandings of religion. [source]

Amen. Religion in gov’t doesn’t necessary mean a theocracy, but containing moral lawgivers if the religion is based on Judea-Christian beliefs. Otherwise, you might have corrupt and tyrannical lawgivers.

No Civilization Without Restraint: Wise Words From 1939

From Breakpoint.org (Aug. 1, 2022):

It is not normal or healthy for a culture to talk about sex this much. From Pride month to education to companies telegraphing their commitments to inclusion and diversity, to just about every commercial, movie, or TV show produced today, sexual identity is treated as if it is central to human identity, human purpose, and human happiness. And this vision of life and the world is especially force-fed to children, who are essentially subjects of our social experimentations.

“If the energy spent talking about sex is disproportionate, it’s important to know there were some who saw this coming. The best example is Oxford sociologist J.D. Unwin. In 1939, Unwin published a landmark book summarizing his research. Sex and Culture was a look at 80 tribes and six historical civilizations over the course of five millennia, through the lens of a single question: Does a culture’s ideas of sexual liberation predict its success or collapse? ”

Unwin’s findings were overwhelming:

“Just as societies have advanced [and] then faded away into a state of general decrepitude, so in each of them has marriage first previously changed from a temporary affair based on mutual consent to a lifelong association of one man with one woman, and then turned back to a loose union or to polygamy. ”

What’s more, Unwin concluded,

The whole of human history does not contain a single instance of a group becoming civilized unless it has been absolutely monogamous, nor is there any example of a group retaining its culture after it has adopted less rigorous customs.

Unwin saw a pattern behind societies that unraveled. If three consecutive generations abandoned sexual restraint built around the protections of marriage and fidelity, they collapsed.

Simply put, sexuality is essential for survival. However, sexuality is such a powerful force, it must be controlled or else it can destroy a future rather than secure it. Wrongly ordered sexuality is devastating for both individuals and entire societies.

Unwin’s conclusions can be boiled down to a single issue. Are people living for the future, with the ability to delay gratification, or are they focusing only on the here and now? When a culture fails to restrain its sexual instincts, people think less about securing the future and instead compromise the stability, productivity, and the well-being of the next generation in the pursuit of sexual pleasure.

Unwin claims that he had no moral or ideological axe to grind in this research. “I make no opinion about rightness or wrongness,” he wrote. But his work is nevertheless profound, as are his conclusions, which we seem to be living out in real time.

According to Pew Research, almost 90% of children lived with two married parents in 1960. By 2008 that number had dropped to just 64%. Over the same period, the percentage of kids born to unmarried women rose from 5% to 41%. There is really no question of how this impacts children. Studies show that teens from single-parent or blended families are 300% more likely to need psychological assistance, twice as likely to drop out of high school, and more likely to commit suicide. They end up with less college education and lower–paying jobs than their parents and are more likely to get divorced themselves.

This is not because children from non-traditional homes have less potential or less value. Nor do stable two-parent families guarantee outcomes for children. Statistics do not determine the future of an individual, but they can identify the future of a society. On a civilizational level, the future is a matter of math.

The early days of the sexual revolution reframed the morality of sexual behavior, but today it’s gone further, undermining the already fragile identity in the rising generation, fraying it in the various directions of the ever-growing acronym of sexual identities. Anywhere from 1 in 5 to nearly 40% of young people identify as LGBTQ today. Or, in the case of one junior high class in the Northeast I heard of recently, “all of them do.”

Christian faithfulness in this cultural moment must involve the protection of children and a commitment to the future of society. At the very least, that means speaking up, especially when it is unpopular to do so. Along the way, we will have to reject the “inevitability thesis,” the notion that all is lost and that things will only get worse so nothing we do matters. With courage and unconditional love for our neighbor, we continue to speak the truth.

And we will need to remind ourselves and each other of something that should be obvious but is not: The ideas and behavior of the late sexual revolution are not normal. Nor is our fascination and focus on sexuality as the central defining factor in human existence and value.

Human sexuality is not some arbitrary construct like a speed limit. It is as much a part of the fabric of life as gravity. We may deny that, but we will not avoid the pain of hitting the ground if we do. [source]

Amen.

Along the same lines..: The Epstein Files, Pagan History, and Christian Morality

Juvenile Court Hears Case of Teens in French Teacher Murder

From Daily News Planet.com (Dec. 2023):

On Monday, November 27, six French teenagers went on trial for their alleged roles in the 2020 beheading of their history and geography teacher.

The juvenile court, where the trial is being held until December 8, 2023, is having closed-door proceedings, with the participants and audience limited to only those people directly affected by the case.

The victim, Samuel Paty, 47, was a secondary school teacher in the Paris suburb Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. He was killed on October 16, 2020, by an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, Abdoullakh Anzorov, who was later shot dead by the French police. The murder occurred shortly after Paty showed caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo during a class on French free speech laws.

Six teens, who were 14 or 15 years old at the time, were charged with participating in the lead-up to Paty’s killing. Five of them are accused of criminal conspiracy intending to incite violence, allegedly identifying Paty to Anzorov in return for money. The sixth accused, a 13-year-old girl at the time, is charged with making false allegations about Paty, disproven by her not being present during the class.

Louis Cailliez, the lawyer for the Paty family, is focused on understanding the teenagers’ actions, which he called “unforgivable.” Antoine Ory, representing one defendant, expressed his client’s regret and apprehension about confronting Paty’s relatives. The accused teenagers, now high school students, did not anticipate that their actions would escalate to murder, expecting at worst social media censure or minor physical repercussions for Paty.

The case is part of a broader inquiry, including trials for eight adults planned for late 2024. The involvement of the minors in the sequence of events resulting in Paty’s death is a central issue in both the teen and adult trials.

Samuel Paty’s murder has brought renewed focus on jihadist violence in France. In October, another teacher, Dominique Bernard, was stabbed, reflecting the ongoing threat of radical Islamist violence. [source]

This is a good reason why a person might have Islamophobia.

A Satanist Pedophile Gang Is Torturing Kids. The FBI Didn’t Seem To Care Unless It Could Blame White Supremacy.

From Daily Wire.com (Nov. 16, 2023):

A Satan-worshipping cult of pedophiles is blackmailing girls into cutting themselves — but the FBI didn’t seem interested in that so much as the fact that one of its members once used the n-word, a Daily Wire investigation found.

For years, the group known both as 764 and Harm Nation has tortured what is believed to be hundreds or thousands of girls. But the FBI didn’t put its cybercrimes or violence-against-children investigators on it. Instead, its interest appears to have piqued mainly by the fact that the group — most of whose victims are white teens — was once racist to a black girl.

The domestic terrorism unit is investigating the Satanist pedophiles for white-supremacy RMVE, or “racially motivated violent extremism” — even though the sole known arrest by the FBI is a Hispanic man who called the judge a “cracker” in court, according to court records and interviews.

Angel Luis Almeida was indicted in January in New York City on charges of sexual exploitation, violation of the Mann Act, and possession of Child Abuse Sexual Material, with prosecutors writing that, “The defendant was an outspoken member of ‘764,’ a neo-Nazi network.” One of the group’s leaders is a 19-year-old called Yuri who calls himself a “femboy,” a term associated with left-wing queer culture.

Critics say, at best, it’s an example of the FBI misclassifying cases in order to tell Congress that right-wing domestic terrorism is the greatest threat to America. At worst, they say, it’s an example of the heinous torture of girls by pedophiles not being a priority — unless there was an angle making it politically appealing to Democrats.

Advocates for children say what it should be is a reminder that children of all types are being exploited online by bad people, and they need help. [read more]

Just terrible. I guess the Briben FBI is too busy going after Christians and J6 protesters or anyone critical of the Demented One. So glad his regime is no longer in power and the FBI is more competent.

Bondi Beach hero’s inspiring words before tackling terrorist revealed

From NY Post.com (Dec. 15):

Ahmed el Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of two from Syria, was seen in a heart-stopping video as he crept up and tackled one of the father-son terrorists who killed 15 people Sunday night at a Hanukkah celebration at the popular beach just outside of Sydney, Australia.

Just before rushing in, the hero predicted he would pay the ultimate price for his bravery, a cousin, Jozay Alkanj, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“He said, ‘I’m going to die – please see my family [and tell them] that I went down to save people’s lives’,” the cousin said.

El Ahmed was hit at least five times, and could even lose an arm, according to Sam Issa, the immigration lawyer who helped get him citizenship in 2022, six years after he had moved Down Under.

“He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets,” Issa told the Sydney outlet after visiting him in the hospital Monday. “Our hero is struggling at the moment.”

His heroism remains even as “the pain has started to take a toll on him,” the lawyer stressed.

“He doesn’t regret what he did. He said he’d do it again,” Issa said.

Still, “He’s a lot worse than expected,” the lawyer said of his “humble” client and friend. “He has lost a lot of blood.”

More than 25,000 people have raised the equivalent of just over $1 million for Ahmed on GoFundMe — with the biggest single donation from US billionaire Bill Ackman, who gave the equivalent of nearly $66,500.

“No one expects to be a hero, but when the moment came, he was,” the fundraiser’s organizers wrote.

The fruit stand owner was photographed with his entire left arm bandaged as he was visited by New South Wales Premier Chris Minns at St George Hospital in Sydney on Monday.

“Ahmed is a real-life hero,” Minn said. “His incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk.”

Ahmed’s father, Mohamed, also spoke of his pride at his son preventing more bloodshed. [read more]

Hero, indeed.  He just reacted without hesitation without thinking about his own safety. He instinctively knew the right course of action to save lives. God speed his recovery.

Other articles on the terrorist attack:

• ‘It was a matter of conscience’: Ahmed al-Ahmed’s family reveal why he risked his life to disarm alleged Bondi shooter
• Bondi Beach hero helped disarm terrorist before police mistakenly shot him: report
• Heroic detective killed Bondi Beach terror suspect with ‘once-in-a-lifetime shot’ from over 100 feet away
• Australia Police See Evidence of Islamic State–Inspired Terror in Bondi Massacre
• Australia Doesn’t Have A Gun Problem, It Has An Islamist Problem
• There’s No Evidence Australia’s Strict Gun Control Laws Are Effective
• Why the Australia beach shooting should terrify EVERYONE [video]
  

Is AI Just Another Tool, or Something Else?

From Breakpoint.org (Jan. 8, 2024):

It’s not uncommon to hear artificial intelligence described as a new “tool” that extends and expands our technological capabilities. Already there are thousands of ways people are utilizing artificial intelligence. All tools help accomplish a task more easily or efficiently. Some tools, however, have the potential to change the task at a fundamental level. 

This is among the challenges presented by AI. If in the end it is not clear what AI is helping us to achieve more efficiently, this emerging technology will be easily abused. AI’s potential impact on education is a prime example.

Since the days of Socrates, the goal of education was not only for students to gain knowledge but also the wisdom and experience to use that knowledge well. Whether the class texts appeared on scrolls or screens mattered little. Learning remained the goal, regardless of the tools used.

In a recent article at The Hill, English professor Mark Massaro described a “wave” of chatbot cheating now making it nearly impossible to grade assignments or to know whether students even complete them. He has received essays written entirely by AI, complete with fake citations and statistics but meticulously formatted to appear legitimate. In addition to hurting the dishonest students who aren’t learning anything, attempts to flag AI-generated assignments, a process often powered by AI, have the potential to yield false positives that bring honest students under suspicion.

Some professors are attempting to make peace with the technology, encouraging students to use AI-generated “scaffolding” to construct their essays. However, this is kind of like legalizing drugs: There’s little evidence it will cut down on abuse. 

Consider also the recent flood of fake news produced by AI. In an article in The Washington Post, Pranshu Verma reported that “since May, websites hosting AI-created false articles have increased by more than 1,000 percent.” According to one AI researcher, “Some of these sites are generating hundreds if not thousands of articles a day. … This is why we call it the next great misinformation superspreader.”

Sometimes, this faux journalism appears among otherwise legitimate articles. Often, the technology is used by publications to cut corners and feed the content machine. However, it can have sinister consequences.

A recent AI-generated story alleged that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s psychiatrist had committed suicide. The fact that this psychiatrist never existed didn’t stop the story from circulating on TV, news sites, and social media in several languages. When confronted, the owners of the site said they republished a story that was “satire,” but the incident demonstrates that the volume of this kind of fake content would be nearly impossible to police.

Of course, there’s no sense in trying to put the AI genie back in a bottle. For better or worse, the technology is here to stay. We must develop an ability to evaluate its legitimate uses from its illegitimate uses. In other words, we must know what AI is for, before experimenting with what it can do.

That will require first knowing what human beings are for. For example, Genesis is clear (and research confirms) that human beings were made to work. After the fall, toil “by the sweat of your brow” is a part of work. The best human inventions throughout history are the tools that reduce needless toil, blunt the effects of the curse, and restore some dignity to those who work.

We should ask whether a given application of AI helps achieve worthy human goals—for instance, teaching students or accurately reporting news—or if it offers shady shortcuts and clickbait instead. Does it restore dignity to human work, or will it leave us like the squashy passengers of the ship in Pixar’s Wall-E—coddled, fed, entertained, and utterly useless?

Perhaps most importantly, we must govern what AI is doing to our relationships. Already, our most impressive human inventions—such as the printing press, the telephone, and the internet—facilitated more rapid and accurate human communication, but they also left us more isolated and disconnected from those closest to us. Obviously, artificial intelligence carries an even greater capacity to replace human communication and relationships (for example, chatbots and AI girlfriends).

In a sense, the most important questions as we enter the age of AI are not new. We must ask, what are humans for? And, how can we love one another well? These questions won’t easily untangle every ethical dilemma, but they can help distinguish between tools designed to fulfill the creation mandate and technologies designed to rewrite it. [source]

AI should be used a tool. Using it any other way, can lead you into precarious territory. So, be cautious. We are living in interesting times.

Ceasefire Goes Into Effect, Gaza, Global Leaders Rejoice

From Newsmax.com (Oct. 9):

The agreement on the first stage of President Donald Trump's plan for ending the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect Thursday at 0900 GMT, Egyptian state-affiliated TV al-Qahera News reported.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Israel has an interest in expanding the circle of peace and normalization in the Middle Eastern region, following the U.S.-brokered deal entering Phase 1.

Celebrations have reportedly broken out in Gaza.

President Donald Trump said Israel and Hamas had reached a deal to end the 2-year-old war in the Palestinian enclave.

The following are comments on the agreement from leaders and officials around the world.

Trump

"This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.

"All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

"A big day for Israel ... I thank from the bottom of my heart President Trump and his team for their dedication to this sacred mission of freeing our hostages.

"With God’s help, together we will continue to achieve all our goals and expand peace with our neighbors."

Hamas

"We call on President Trump, the guarantor states of the agreement, and all Arab, Islamic, and international parties to compel the occupation government to fully implement its obligations under the agreement and to prevent it from evading or delaying the implementation of what has been agreed upon.

"We affirm that the sacrifices of our people will not be in vain, and that we will remain true to our pledge — never abandoning our people’s national rights until freedom, independence, and self-determination are achieved."

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich

"Mixed emotions on a complex morning: Immense joy for the return of all our abducted brothers! ... Great fear of the consequences of emptying prisons and releasing the next generation of terror leadership, which will do everything to continue spilling rivers of Jewish blood, God forbid. For this reason alone, we cannot join the short-sighted celebrations and vote in favor of the deal.

"A tremendous responsibility to ensure that this is not, God forbid, a deal of 'hostages in exchange for stopping the war,' as Hamas thinks and boasts ... and that immediately after the hostages return home, the State of Israel will continue to strive with all its might for the true eradication of Hamas and the genuine disarmament of Gaza, so that it no longer poses a threat to Israel."

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres

"I urge all stakeholders to seize this momentous opportunity to establish a credible political path forward towards ending the occupation, recognizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, and achieving a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security.

"The stakes have never been higher."

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

"I would like to express my sincere gratitude to U.S. President Trump, who demonstrated the necessary political will to encourage the Israeli government toward the ceasefire. As Turkey, we will closely monitor the strict implementation of the agreement and continue to contribute to the process."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

"This is a moment of profound relief that will be felt all around the world, but particularly for the hostages, their families, and for the civilian population of Gaza, who have all endured unimaginable suffering over the last two years."

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

"For the first time in a long while, there is a real prospect of peace in the region."

French President Emmanuel Macron

"This agreement must mark the end of the war and the beginning of a political solution based on the two-state solution ... France stands ready to contribute to this goal. We will discuss it this afternoon in Paris with our international partners."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong

"After more than two years of conflict, hostages held and a devastating loss of civilian life, this is a much-needed step towards peace ... We urge all parties to respect the terms of the plan."

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters

"This is an essential first step towards achieving lasting peace. We urge Israel and Hamas to continue working towards a complete resolution."

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola

"This is a pivotal moment for peace and renewal in the Middle East and opens a path that could finally end the intergenerational cycle of violence, suffering, and terror that has plagued the region."

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

"WHO stands ready to scale up its work to meet the dire health needs of patients across Gaza, and to support rehabilitation of the destroyed health system.

"The best medicine is peace." [source]

Nice. Good to hear. Hope Hamas gives back all the hostages and the peace lasts. President Trump should get the Nobel Peace prize for the peace deal.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. - Mathew 5:9.

Others articles on the peace deal:

• Hostage families ask Trump for meeting to thank him personally
• Released Hostages Reunited With Families
• Israel: Hamas Turned Over Body That Wasn't a Hostage
  
• Red Cross Receives Remains of 2 More Hamas Hostages for Israel
  
• Israel IDs 10th Dead Hostage Returned by Hamas
  
• Chants Of ‘Thank You, Trump’ And Calls For Nobel Peace Prize Erupt At Israel’s Hostage Square
• Hamas agreed to deal after being convinced that hostages are a 'burden' to keep, US official says
• U.S. sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor ceasefire deal in Gaza
• What concessions did Israel, Hamas make to reach hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza? – analysis
• The Biggest Obstacle To Trump’s Israel-Hamas Peace Deal Is Jihadi Ideology
  
• Hamas Storms Through Gaza, Executing Opposition Groups in Attempt to Cling to Power
  
• Israeli Military: Hamas Has Attacked Israeli Soldiers, Breaking Ceasefire
  

Similarities Between Prophet Jehu and President Trump

From Grok 4 Fast:

The comparison between the biblical King Jehu (from 2 Kings 9-10) and President Donald Trump has gained traction among some evangelical and Messianic Christian leaders, particularly since Trump's 2024 election victory and inauguration for his second term. Jehu, a military commander anointed by the prophet Elisha to overthrow the idolatrous house of Ahab and purge Baal worship from Israel, is often portrayed as a flawed but divinely appointed disruptor. Proponents like Rabbi Jonathan Cahn see Trump fitting a similar "template" as a bold instrument of reform against perceived moral and political corruption in America. Below is a compiled list of commonly cited parallels, drawn from religious commentaries and analyses.

Similarity	Description	Biblical Reference (Jehu)	Modern Parallel (Trump)
Outsider Rise to Power	Both ascended from non-traditional backgrounds without prior entitlement to leadership.	Jehu, a military commander, was unexpectedly anointed king by a prophet, not born royal.	Trump, a businessman with no political experience, entered as an outsider and won the presidency in 2016.
Divine Anointing for a Mission	Portrayed as chosen by God for a specific, urgent purpose.	Anointed by Elisha to execute judgment on Ahab's house (2 Kings 9:6-7).	Described as a "trumpet of God" or vessel for restoring America, akin to Jehu's template.
Disruptors of Corrupt Establishments	Challenged entrenched powers seen as morally bankrupt.	Overthrew Ahab's dynasty, symbolizing the end of corrupt rule.	Campaigned to "drain the swamp" in Washington, targeting political elites.
Swift, Aggressive Action	Took decisive, rapid steps upon gaining power to enact change.	Drove his chariot furiously to confront and kill rivals immediately (2 Kings 9:20).	Issued an omnibus executive order on January 20, 2025, rescinding 78 Biden-era policies and firing officials.
War on Idolatry and Immorality	Fought against practices viewed as societal evils, including child sacrifice.	Destroyed Baal's temple and slaughtered its priests (2 Kings 10:25-28).	Opposed abortion (likened to "America's cult of Baal" via Roe v. Wade) and progressive policies on sexuality and family.
Alliance with Religious Leaders	Partnered with prophets and conservatives to fulfill their mandate.	Allied with Elisha's followers for religious reform.	Formed ties with evangelical leaders like Cahn and Ché Ahn for moral and political support.
Confrontation with Prominent Female Adversaries	Dealt harshly with influential women embodying opposition.	Killed Jezebel, the manipulative queen promoting idolatry (2 Kings 9:30-37).	Defeated Hillary Clinton (2016) and Kamala Harris (2024), cast as modern "Jezebels."
Purging Enemies and Systems	Systematically eliminated threats to their vision.	Wiped out Ahab's descendants, officials, and Baal worshippers.	Pursued deportations, declared cartels terrorists, and removed intelligence officials and diversity programs.
Legacy of Upheaval and Division	Brought dramatic change but faced resistance and left unfinished work.	Eradicated Baal but allowed golden calf worship to continue, leading to instability (2 Kings 10:29-31).	Reshaped institutions amid legal battles and opposition, with reforms like border policies under challenge.

These parallels are interpretive and prophetic in nature, emphasizing themes of judgment and restoration rather than literal biography. Critics, including some faith leaders, express concern that such analogies could justify extreme actions by framing opponents as demonic forces.

H/T: The Josiah Manifesto (2023) by Jonathan Cahn.