Monday, July 22, 2013
Stephen Andrew Missick
Decoding the Language of Jesus
Most scholars believe that Jesus spoke Aramaic due to the evidence found in the New Testament and in other ancient sources. Important spiritual truths can be found in certain of the Aramaic words and phrases used by Jesus Christ (Yeshua Meshikha in Aramaic) in the Holy Bible. Aramaic is still spoken by certain Christian groups in the Middle East and is the language of the Assyrian Church of the East, the Syrian Orthodox Church and has an important legacy that has been largely forgotten in the West.
About the Author
Stephen Missick is an ordained Christian minister and graduated seminary through Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has traveled widely throughout the Middle East and has lived with the Coptic Christians in Egypt and Assyrian Christians in Syria. He has participated in the archeological excavations at Bethsaida and has done missionary work in India and Uganda. He served in Operation Iraqi Freedom twice and served as an Army chaplain in his second deployment.
Aramaic Teacher Available
Stephen Andrew Missick is available to teach in your church. Topics include the Jewish feasts, the significance of Biblical prophecy, the Semitic roots of Christianity, Insight from the Aramaic language of Jesus, Islam and Christianity and much more. Invite him for a weekend and add a seminar or a Bible teaching of your choice.
Please contact our office at
2228 FM 1725, Cleveland, Texas 77328
Or call (281) 592-4101 to invite Stephen to your church.
Stephen Andrew Missick
About the Author
Reverend Stephen Andrew Missick is the author of The Assyrian Church in the Mongol Empire, Mar Thoma: The Apostolic Foundation of the Assyrian Church in India, and Socotra: The Mysterious Island of the Church of the East which were published in the Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies (Volume XIII, No. 2, 1999, Volume XIV, No. 2, 2000 and Volume XVI No. 1, 2002). (See www.jaas.org.) He is the author of The Words of Jesus in the Original Aramaic: Discovering the Semitic Roots of Christianity, The Secret of Jabez, Saint Thaddeus and the King of Assyria, The Ascents of James: A Lost Acts of the Apostles, The Hammer of God: The Stories of Judah Maccabee and Charles Martel. He is an ordained minister of the gospel. He graduated from Sam Houston State University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Rev. Missick has traveled extensively throughout the Middle East and has lived among the Coptic Christians in Egypt and Aramaic Christians in Syria. He also served as a soldier in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and 2004. While serving as a soldier in Iraq he learned Aramaic from native Aramaic-speaking Iraqi Assyrian Christians. Rev. Missick is the writer and illustrator of the comic book "The Assyrians: The Oldest Christian People," the comic strip Chronicles: Facts from the Bible and the comic book series The Hammer of God which are available from www.comixpress.com. The Hammer of God comic book series dramatizes the stories of Judah Maccabee and Charles Martel. He has also served as a chaplain in the Army National Guard in Iraq during his second deployment in 2009 and 2010. He participated in an archeological excavation of Bethsaida in Galilee in 2011 and went on a missionary trip to Uganda in 2012 and to India in 2013.
PO Box 882, Shepherd, Texas, 77371
BLOG: www.aramaicherald.blogspot.com
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: www.youtube.com/aramaic12
King of Saints Tabernacle: Messianic Congregation
2228 FM 1725
Cleveland, TX 77328
(218)592-4104
The Complete Works of Stephen Andrew Missick
The Words of Jesus in the Original Aramaic: Discovering the Semitic Roots of Christianity (Xulon Press, 2006)
Mary of Magdala: Magdalene, the Forgotten Aramaic Prophetess of Christianity (Xlibris, 2006)
Treasures of the Language of Jesus: The Aramaic Source of Christ's Teaching (Xlibris, 2006)
Aramaic: The Language of Jesus of Nazareth (Xlibris, 2008)
Christ the Man (Xulon Press)
The Hammer of God: The Stories of Judah Maccabee and Charles Martel (Xulon Press, 2010) ( Charles Martel: The Hammer of God and Judas Maccabeus: The Hammer of God (Createspace 2011) are also available.
The Ascents of James: A Lost Acts of the Apostles (Create Space 2010)
The Second Adam and the Restoration of All Things (Create Space 2010)
Saint Thaddeus and the King of Assyria: The Aramaic Origins of Christianity (Create Space 2010)
A Soldier in Iraq (Createspace 2011)
The Lord's Prayer in the Original Aramaic (Createspace 2011)
Jesus the Poet (Createspace 2011)
The Ennead and The Art of the Ennead (Createspace 2011)
The Secret of Jabez (2011)
The 613 Commandments (2011)
The Assyrians: The Oldest Christian People (Createspace 2011)
The Epic of Baal and The Baal Cycle (2012, 2013)
KINDLE BOOKS
(These books are also available in hard copies.)
The Language of Jesus: Introducing Aramaic (2010)
Judas Maccabeus: The Hammer of God (2010)
NOOK BOOKS
Christ's Language: Spiritual Insight from Aramaic (2011)
ARTICLES
(Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies www.jaas.org)
The Assyrian Church in the Mongol Empire, Mar Thoma: The Apostolic Foundation of the Assyrian Church in India, and Socotra: The Mysterious Island of the Church of the East which were published in the Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies (Volume XIII, No. 2, 1999, Volume XIV, No. 2, 2000 and Volume XVI No. 1, 2002).
VIDEOS
(Crossover Videos: www.thecrossoverproject.org)
Iraq's Christians in Crisis
The Armenian Genocide
COMIC BOOKS
The Assyrians: The Oldest Christian People
Chronicles: Facts from the Bible
The Hammer of God: Character and Historical Reference
The Hammer of God Coloring Book
The Hammer of God Mini-Comic
The Hammer of God: The Battle for Religious Freedom
The Ennead 1
The Ennead 2
Maccabee (createspace, 2011)
BOOKLETS
Aramaic: The Language of Jesus of Nazareth
Exploring the Semitic Roots of Christianity
Is the Cross a "Pagan" symbol?
BROADSIDES (tri-folds)
Hammer of God
Aramaic: the Language of Jesus
TRACTS
The Glory of Coptic Egypt
The Splendor of Christian Ethiopia
I am an Assyrian!
Web-sites
www.aramaicherald.blogspot.com
I am also on "face-book"
Recent Developments
My recent trip to Chicago and other Developments
A lot of things are going on recently. I went to Chicago and have a very productive visit. I was able to make many important connections and re-connections.
I have started my doctoral work at Houston Graduate School of Theology. I am planning to do my doctorate on "Facilitating Interaction between the Aramaic Assyrian Christian Community and Evangelical Christians for Sustainment, Spiritual Renewal and Missional Outreach." I think I should put my research into good use and this way, perhaps I can help the Assyrian Community and at the same time earn my doctorate. (The backup proposal is "Church Renewal through the Preaching of Law and Grace. I think the Assyrian project is better, although I will also implement the law and grace program, probably as a type of practice run for the Assyrian work.)
While in Chicago, I did a radio program and met with the Assyrians for Christ. (See www.assyriansforchrist.org.) I also went to the Assyrian National Foundation and the Ashurbanipal library. I got to see a lot of their archives on the Assyrian Levies from WWI-WWII and the archives on the beginning of the Assyrian American Immigrant community. I also found some good resources in the "bookstore" which desperately needs organizing. Honestly, it is frustrating. Things are in such disarray. It seems some Assyrians care, but many don't. I am not a native born Assyrian and I care. Maybe I can do some good with my doctoral program.
Will Stephen be deployed again?
What is the doctoral work going to look like?
I intend to finally make new submissions to the Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies.
What is this Doctoral Research going to look like?
Teacher's Certification-on top of everything else
Transcript from "The Five," July 9, 2013.
Egypt's Christians target of Islamist anger in wake of Morsi's ouster
By Lisa Daftari, Published July 11, 2013' FoxNews.com Egypt's Muslim extremists, angry over the ouster of Mohammed Morsi from the presidency, have zeroed in on the nation's Christian minority, scapegoating them even though the Islamist leader was widely unpopular. On Thursday, the body of a Christian merchant abducted last week from the town of Sheikh Zweid was found decapitated in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula. The grisly discovery came as attacks on Copts and their churches have escalated amid rumors that Christian leaders masterminded Morsi's removal. Last Saturday, Coptic Christian priest Mina Abboud Sharobeen was shot dead by gunmen in an outdoor market. Historically, Egypt's Coptic community, numbering only six to 12 million, approximately 10 percent of the country's 85 million population, have faced severe marginalization and often have been imprisoned and tortured for their Christian faith. While they were undeniably part of the movement that ultimately pressured the military to oust Morsi, they were hardly alone. "Egypt's Christians played an important role in ousting Morsi," said Khairi Abaza, a senior fellow at the Foundation from the Defense of Democracies based in Cairo. "They were part of the 20 to 30 million Egyptians who took to the streets, showing that Egypt is united despite its diversity, and that it is their country as much as any Muslim." The Coptic community's new pope, Tawadros II, has often openly condemned the extremists Muslims and more recently, publicly supported the removal of President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from office. Pope Tawadros even made a televised speech supporting a timeline for Egypt's future shortly after interim president Adli Mansour was sworn into office. He is being hailed as courageous, as his predecessor, Shenouda III, had encouraged Copts to keep out of politics and the public eye for fear of backlash and retribution. "There could be concerns of retaliation against Christian individuals or churches by some extremists who could use them as targets to express their anger at the ousting of Morsi," Abaza said. Muslim Brotherhood factions inside the country have harshly condemned Pope Tawadros for openly supporting the removal of Morsi. Among the Egyptian people, however, there is more hope of reconciliation between Muslims and Christians, according to Abaza. "There is a stronger solidarity between Christians and Muslims in countering extremism. These last two years were a wake up call for both moderate Christian and Muslims that national unity is in danger," he said.
Biblical Archeology Review features Aramaic
The Assyrian American Yellow Pages
While in Chicago, I picked up the Assyrian American Yellow pages (www.assyrianyellowpages.net) and found it to be a helpful resource.
Coptic and Assyrian Christianity in Archeology Magazine
Christian History features an edition on Ethiopic Christianity
Please pray for the persecuted church in the Middle East. Also please pray for me. Remember my youtube channel: www.youtube.com/aramaic12 and my church King of Saints Tabernacle, 2228 FM 1725, Cleveland Texas 77328.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Aramaic Newsletter
The Cyrus Cylinder—one of the most famous objects to have survived from the ancient world—comes to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston on a limited U.S. tour. A touchstone of civilization, the Cyrus Cylinder is truly an object of world heritage, produced for a Persian king and seen and studied for more than 130 years in the British Museum.
Valued throughout the world, the Cyrus Cylinder is such a symbol of tolerance and respect for different peoples and different faiths that a copy is on display at the United Nations in New York. The Cyrus Cylinder was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform—the earliest form of writing—on the orders of the Persian King Cyrus the Great. It is often referred to as the first bill of human rights because it appears to encourage freedom of worship and to allow deported people to return to their homelands. It was first found in Babylon (now Iraq) in 1879 during a British Museum excavation, and it has been on display at the British Museum ever since.
The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning also features 16 works of art that are testimony to the innovations initiated by Persian rule in the Ancient Near East. A gold plaque from the Oxus Treasure with the representation of a priest shows the spread of the Zoroastrian religion at that time. Persian kings introduced a new writing system, Old Persian cuneiform, as seen on part of a column base from Hamadan and on the renowned seal of Darius. The kings also developed new forms of luxury goods, including beautifully decorated gold and silver bowls and sumptuous gold bracelets featuring fantastic animal shapes, some from the Oxus Treasure.
The Cyropaedia
Written in the early 4th century BC by Xenophon, a student of Socrates, the Cyropaedia describes the life of Cyrus and his development into one of the greatest rulers the world has ever known. Many of the U.S. founding fathers, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, were inspired by this classic work. Click here to view the Cyropaedia online.
U.S. Exhibition Tour
The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia comes to Houston following the premiere at the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC. Next, the exhibition travels to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco; and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. To learn more about the Cyrus Cylinder and the U.S. tour, click here.
Assyrian Christian Hormudz Rassam, the Archeologist who discovered the Cyrurs cylinder.
The Cyrus Cylinder as a Biblical Artifact
The Bible records that some Jews (who were exiled by the Babylonians), returned to their homeland from Babylon, where they had been settled by Nebuchadnezzar, to rebuild the temple following an edict from Cyrus. The Book of Ezra (1–4:5) provides a narrative account of the rebuilding project.Scholars have linked one particular passage from the Cylinder to the Old Testament account:
From to Aššur and [from] Susa, Agade, Ešnunna, Zamban, Me-Turnu, Der, as far as the region of Gutium, the sacred centers on the other side of the Tigris, whose sanctuaries had been abandoned for a long time, I returned the images of the gods, who had resided there [i.e., in Babylon], to their places and I let them dwell in eternal abodes. I gathered all their inhabitants and returned to them their dwellings.
This passage has often been interpreted as a reference to the benign policy instituted by Cyrus of allowing exiled peoples, such as the Jews, to return to their original homelands. The Cylinder's inscription has been linked with the reproduction in the Book of Ezra of two texts that are claimed to be edicts issued by Cyrus concerning the repatriation of the Jews and the reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
I have viewed this artifact when I was at the British Museum. However, I will go to the exhibit here in Houston.
Also, a version of the edict of Cyrus in Aramaic is found in the book of Ezra in Ezra Chapter 6.
Tsarnaev family given $100,000.00 by US Government
Outrageous! Why won't the US Government give me $100,000 too? I will use it for humanitarian purposes. Actually-they were given MORE than $100,000. That is how much the government is admitting to right now.
Good News from Egypt
1. What Egyptians think of the Morsi Disaster by Michael Youssef. Author Michael Amerhom Youssef was born in Egypt in 1948. He studied at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia and was later ordained there as a minister. His ancestors, like all Christian ancestors, belonged to the Coptic orthodox church. He is a third generation protestant. Youssef moved to the United States with his wife in 1977. In 1978, he received a master's degree in theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in California. In 1984, he became a United States citizen. Youssef founded The Church of the Apostles in Atlanta in 1987 and currently leads a congregation of over 3,000.
In 2011, President Obama quickly called on President Mubarak to acquiesce to demonstrators' demands and leave office. With Mubarak out of the way, Obama proceeded to support the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, who succeeded in stealing the revolution. Obama's support extended to an ex-con named Mohammad Morsi. When Morsi ran for the presidency, the president continued to support him, even when it was clear that the close election was rigged by dubious tactics. With his wishy-washy message about those who are democratically elected, Obama confirmed in Egyptian minds that he is in the pocket of the Muslim Brotherhood. With Obama's full-fledged support of Morsi, you would think that Egyptians would be in love with him. But the deeply troubled Egyptian public is in no way enamored with this White House. Quite the contrary. Here's why: More than 40 percent of Egyptian citizens currently must survive on about $2 per day. Lines to purchase gasoline stretch on for hours. The lines for a tank of propane—needed for cooking and other necessities of life—extend for up to nine hours. Electricity is cut off from 2-3 hours per night. When the Egyptian masses finally couldn't take it anymore, 22 million people signed a petition to recall Morsi's election—more than twice the number of people than originally voted for him. Then something totally unprecedented happened: 30 million people took to the streets. The largest mass demonstration in human history.
News Media ignores Obama's Role in Egyptian Disaster
Excellent Article: Egypt's Lessons for America by Peter Morici
Anti-Christian activities on rise in USA
Obama damages USA's standing around the world
1. The Anti-Morsi demonstrations in Egypt are also anti-Obama demonstrations
2. Europeans are outraged by Obama's NSA spying program
3. (CNSNews.com) – Remarks by President Barack Obama during his recent Africa trip concerning sexual orientation and discrimination were rebuked by several Kenyan leaders as contrary to the laws of God, who also emphasized that Kenya "is a God-fearing nation." It is illegal to engage in homosexual practices in 37 African states, including Kenya and Senegal. In a press conference with Senegal President Macky Small on June 27, Obama said, "My basic view is that regardless of race, regardless of religion, regardless of gender, regardless of sexual orientation, when it comes to the law, people should be treated equally, and that's a principle that I think applies universally." Those comments spread quickly and on Sunday, June 30, Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto responded at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Kenya, saying, "Those who believe in other things, that is their business. We believe in God." "This country, the nation of Kenya, is a God-fearing nation," he said. "We believe in God." Cardinal John Njue, the Catholic archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya, said that Obama should "forget and forget and forget" about the decriminalization of homosexuality in Africa, adding, "I think we need to act according to our own traditions and our faiths." "Those people who have already ruined their society … let them not become our teachers to tell us where to go," said the cardinal. Senegal President Macky Sall also rejected some of President Obama's comments, saying, "We are not ready to decriminalize homosexuality." Also, the Senegalese newspaper Liberation mocked Obama's views by playing off his 2008 campaign slogan with the headline, "No, We Can't." (It is interesting that Obama did not go to Kenya in his latest visit to Africa. Kenya now opposes Obama's agenda and saying that they are a "Christian Nation." Obama coerced Kenya into allowing Sharia law to function when it approved its latest constitution a few years ago. Obama claimed to be born in Kenya in the first draft of his autobiography.)
MY TAKE ON ALL THIS: The fall of the Muslim Brotherhood is a very big deal. In America our president and universities protect and advocate for political Islam-but the Muslim world is beginning to reject it. Why should we advance or protect a political ideology many Muslims obviously do not want? This is all wonderful news for the Middle East's Christians. With the fall of political Islam-perhaps there will be greater tolerance. This represents the failure of Obama's agenda. Obama supported Morsi after his fall and is still, as far as I know, supporting him. The question is "why"? Using Ochen's Razor and finding the easiest explanation-he is a Muslim and is advancing the Islamist agenda of Saudi Arabia. It is obvious that Obama advocates for Islam-he has admitted as much on several occasions. Lets just deal with reality instead of theories that are convoluted such as "he is not a Muslim but he advocates for Islam because…" Why would he advocate so much to support Morsi, when he isn't a Muslim and doesn't have any vested interest in Islam? Praise God for the fall of Morsi! (See Michael Goodwin "Egyptian Military Saved Democracy not destroyed it!")
'The Bible' miniseries sequel's coming to NBC
Everything gets a sequel these days, and that includes "The Bible." The Mark Burnett miniseries, which aired on The History Channel in the spring to record ratings, is now getting a second act on NBC. "A.D.: Beyond the Bible" (a working title) starts "in the dark days after Jesus' betrayal and death," a statement from NBC says. "A perfect storm brews in the Holy Land, fueled by social injustice, Roman military oppression and religious unrest. ... And in the face of terrible odds and brutal persecution, the small band of Jesus' disciples stand against the combined might of Rome and their own local authorities. In a generation of rebellion, war, famine, and carnage, who can they trust?" Burnett will again executive produce the follow-up to his original 10-part miniseries with his wife, Roma Downey. "Our new series, A.D.: BEYOND THE BIBLE, is another massive project and a major commitment, but it's a story that has to be told," the couple said in a statement. "It's a story that changed the world. We look forward to making this an enormous television event on NBC." NBC is looking forward to airing the project - and likely to reaping its potential ratings - as well. "I followed the development process of 'The Bible' closely with Mark and knew that the story was far from over after Christ's Crucifixion," NBC Chairman of Entertainment, Bob Greenblatt, said in a statement. "In fact, what happened in the aftermath – which is essentially the beginning of Christianity – is utterly fascinating. The day after 'The Bible' premiered, I told Mark we were on board with no hesitation for the follow-up miniseries. This will be attention-getting in every way, and we're proud to continue our association with Mark which has just grown exponentially from 'The Voice.'"
[I think a mini-series on the early church-from the Apostles until Constantine, would be very helpful. This would be especially true if they include the history of Aramaic Christians. I think that people need to know about the Early Church Fathers. Part of the reason you have conspiracy theories about them is that people don't know history. Most protestants think that the church became corrupt immediately after John died. That isn't really the case in my view. We shall see what they do with AD. Of course, there was already a mini-series loosely based on the Book of Acts called A.D. that was broadcasted on TV in the 1980s)
Gay Marriage Ruling
My prediction was that the Supreme Court would repeal DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) but allow the States to determine state by state if they would allow gay marriage or not. This is what happened sort of. Now the federal government recognizes "gay marriage" in states where it is legal. That being said-this is a bad decision. The worst part of it is that although states can determine to have gay marriage or not-the Supreme Court overturned California's rejection of gay marriage-saying that the citizens of California do not have standing to come before the Supreme Court-which is absurd. So now congress cannot define what a marriage is-that is "unconstitutional" and the citizens don't have standing before the court. This is an example of a court out of control and a nation in decline.
How Social Liberals Won the Battle on Same-Sex Marriage by Chris Stirewalt
Social conservatives were intent on winning the political battle over same-sex marriage, and for decades did so with remarkable success. With public opinion massively on their side, it was easy for traditionalists to get politicians of both parties to expand and enforce restrictions of the practice. But while opponents were racking up wins in Washington and state capitals using public sentiment to their advantage, proponents were trying to change public sentiment itself. Guess who won? The Supreme Court has today allowed that states can continue to block same-sex unions but those couples joined in states that allow them will have to be recognized by the federal government.
The discussion today will be all about the politics of same-sex marriage, but that issue, which has proved quite useful to Democrats as a wedge issue in the past three election cycles, is nearing the end of its usefulness with the high court's decision. Republicans used it to their benefit for many cycles before that, but there are now diminishing returns for both parties. Advocates of governmental support for those in relationships with members of the same gender have, after a decades-long cultural and political push, mostly exhausted centuries of resistance. Like the members of the temperance movement before them, prohibitionists of same-sex marriage have been overwhelmed by an increasingly permissive culture that now finds a powerful ally in government. The government, which was once the friend to same-sex marriage opponents, is now playing for the other team. The Supreme Court has today allowed that states can continue to block same-sex unions but those couples joined in states that allow them will have to be recognized by the federal government. Successfully branded as prudes, killjoys and moralizers, proponents of traditional marriage now suffer with the knowledge that while many Americans still agree with them, a shrinking number are willing to say so publicly. The issue will have political consequences in 2014 and perhaps 2016 as states sort out their laws on the subject, drawing out voters who might traditionally stay home and thereby altering electorates. But Republicans will be less able to take direct advantage as they once did and Democrats will be mostly deprived of a cause. The blue states will get bluer and the red states will get redder. President Obama will take pride in the knowledge that his legacy will include the fact that he was the president who oversaw the federal reversal on the subject after decades of bipartisan agreement. But that's not going to help him in his current struggles. But the potency of the issue is rapidly drawing to a close for Democrats. In the end, this battle of the culture wars was fought and won on Hollywood soundstages and in network primetime lineups, not in Congress or the courts. Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News, and his POWER PLAY column appears Monday-Friday on FoxNews.com. Catch Chris Live online daily at 11:30amET at http:live.foxnews.com.
In a ripping dissent, Scalia says that Justice Anthony Kennedy and his colleagues in the majority have resorted to calling opponents of gay marriage "enemies of the human race."
But to defend traditional marriage is not to condemn, demean, or humiliate those who would prefer other arrangements, any more than to defend the Constitution of the United States is to con- demn, demean, or humiliate other constitutions. To hurl such accusations so casually demeans this institution. In the majority's judgment, any resistance to its holding is beyond the pale of reasoned disagreement. To question its high-handed invalidation of a presumptively valid statute is to act (the majority is sure) with the purpose to "dis- parage," "injure," "degrade," "demean," and "humiliate" our fellow human beings, our fellow citizens, who are homo- sexual. All that, simply for supporting an Act that did no more than codify an aspect of marriage that had been unquestioned in our society for most of its existence— indeed, had been unquestioned in virtually all societies for virtually all of human history. It is one thing for a society to elect change; it is another for a court of law to impose change by adjudging those who oppose it hostes humani generis, enemies of the human race.
Scalia says that the court's holding – while limited to the Defense of Marriage Act – is a sure sign that the majority is willing to declare gay marriage a constitutional right.
It takes real cheek for today's majority to assure us, as it is going out the door, that a constitutional requirement to give formal recognition to same-sex marriage is not at issue here—when what has preceded that assurance is a lecture on how superior the majority's moral judgment in favor of same-sex marriage is to the Congress's hateful moral judgment against it. I promise you this: The only thing that will "confine" the Court's holding is its sense of what it can get away with.
And, he says, the holding will short circuit the debate over gay marriage that should have been carried out in the states.
In the majority's telling, this story is black-and-white: Hate your neighbor or come along with us. The truth is more complicated. It is hard to admit that one's political opponents are not monsters, especially in a struggle like this one, and the challenge in the end proves more than today's Court can handle. Too bad. A reminder that disagreement over something so fundamental as marriage can still be politically legitimate would have been a fit task for what in earlier times was called the judicial temperament. We might have covered ourselves with honor today, by promising all sides of this debate that it was theirs to settle and that we would respect their resolution. We might have let the People decide.
But that the majority will not do. Some will rejoice in today's decision, and some will despair at it; that is the nature of a controversy that matters so much to so many. But the Court has cheated both sides, robbing the winners of an honest victory, and the losers of the peace that comes from a fair defeat. We owed both of them better. I dissent.
Prominent Pastor of "Mar's Hill" Church refuses to comment on Court's Gay Decision but here is what the Catholic Church has to say
(CNSNews.com) - Bishop Thomas John Paprocki, leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Ill., says the U.S. Supreme Court is giving "legal protection to intrinsic evil" in its decisions late last month that advanced the cause of legalized same-sex "marriage" in the United States. "As in the case of Roe v. Wade striking down abortion laws forty years ago, the United States Supreme Court has again usurped its legitimate prerogative through a raw exercise of judicial power by giving legal protection to an intrinsic evil, this time by striking down the Defense of Marriage Act in the case of U.S. v. Windsor and in refusing to take up the defense of Proposition 8 in California in the case of Hollingsworth v. Perry.
"These hollow decisions are absolutely devoid of moral authority," said the bishop. "It is becoming increasingly and abundantly clear that what secular law now calls "marriage" has no semblance to the sacred institution of Holy Matrimony. People of faith are called to reject the redefinition of marriage and bear witness to the truth of Holy Matrimony as a lasting, loving and life-giving union between one man and one woman." In the Defense of Marriage case, the Supreme Court argued that the "due process" clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibited the U.S. Congress from defining the word "marriage" insofar as it appears in federal law as meaning the legal union of one man and one woman. If even just one state legalizes same-sex marriage, the court said, then the federal government must do so also so that it gives "equal" treatment to "same-sex marriages" from that state and male-female marriages from there or anywhere else. In the Proposition 8 case, the Supreme Court ruled that the proponents of the marriage amendment that California voters approved for their state constitution did not have "standing" to defend that amendment against challenges in federal court. The court said only state government officials, such as the attorney general and governor of the state, could do that. However, officials in California's state government refused to defend in court their state constitution's voter-approved declaration that marriage is between a man and a woman because they disagreed with the majority of the state's voters and supported the idea that two men or two women can "marry" one another.
Obama welcomes Notorious Muslim Terrorist to the White House
A senior Obama administration official confirmed to Fox News that members of the National Security Council staff met with a controversial Muslim scholar, but stressed that they were focused on his recent efforts to counter the Al Qaeda narrative. The official was responding to a report on Wednesday from The Investigative Project on Terrorism, which uncovered a statement on the website of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah claiming he met June 13 with Obama administration officials at the White House. Bin Bayyah is vice president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, a group founded by Egyptian cleric Yusuf Qaradawi -- a Muslim Brotherhood leader who has called for the death of Jews and Americans and himself is banned from visiting the U.S. Bin Bayyah, for his part, has urged the U.N. to criminalize blasphemy. His group has spoken out in favor of Hamas and in 2009 issued a fatwa barring "all forms of normalization" with Israel. The administration official confirmed Bin Bayyah met with Senior Director for Development and Democracy Gayle Smith and other members of the National Security Council staff. But the official said they were there to discuss poverty, global health efforts and Bin Bayyah's own efforts to speak out against Al Qaeda. In 2010, Bin Bayyah publicly rejected a fatwa that had been used as the justification for Al Qaeda terrorism. In his criticism of the fatwa, he said: "Anyone who seeks support from this fatwa for killing Muslims or non-Muslims has erred in his interpretation and has misapplied the revealed texts." The Muslim scholar has taken criticism from violent extremists for this position. He has also worked with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other groups on global health issues. Bin Bayyah was named in 2009, by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. His history, though, is mixed. Aside from his ties to Qaradawi, IPT also found Bin Bayyah was vice president at the IUMS when they issued a 2004 fatwa saying that resisting U.S. troops in Iraq is a "duty" for Muslims.
Can America Survive Three more years of Obama? By Michael Goodwin
Obama Miranda-izes Joker Tsarnaev
NOTE: Chechen rebels who have migrated to Syria have taken the bishops hostage.
Aramaic Christian Bishop held hostage by Chechen Terrorists in Syria. Please pray for his release.
Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, left, and Greek Orthodox (called "Roman Orthodox" in the Region) Bishop Boulos Yazigi have been missing since armed men abducted them and shot dead their driver on April 22. (Photo: Universal Syriac Orthodox Church) - See more at: http://www.cnsnews.com
Hard facts about Iran
Look, the search for Iranian moderates is perpetual. And the answer is always the same -- it's a mirage. We go back to the hostage crisis in '79. We were looking for the moderates. Then Iran-Contra started because the national security advisor of Ronald Reagan of all people had had the idea that he knew of some moderates in Iran and he went over on a secret trip. In the end he was swindled and humiliated. But this happens over and over again. This is a wish. It's not a reality."
-- Charles Krauthammer on "Special Report with Bret Baier"
Krauthammer said Rowhani (the President elect in Iran) is the same man who "spearheaded" the crackdown on the student uprising in Iran in 1999, which was "absolutely ruthless." (Rowhani is also a cleric and a part of the "Mullah-ocracy" ruling Iran. Note that the Mullah's must approve of any candidate who officially runs for president.)
"He's not a moderate, he's not a Democrat," he explained. "And on the issue of nuclear negotiations, which he was heavily involved, he boasted about the fact that as he negotiated, they never stopped enriching uranium, which was the one demand of the West."
Krauthammer concluded by saying there is not an "iota of difference" between Rowhani and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the issues that matter for America. He suggested that the president-elect supports expanding Iran's nuclear program, backs Assad in Syria and wants to destroy Israel.
In 2009 there was an opportunity to support a transition to a true democracy in Iran and Mr. Obama squandered it. It seems his policy is to protect radical Islamist governments, topple moderate governments and bring Islamists to power. (Obama is supporting the regimes in Iran and Turkey-both "fundamentalist" Muslim and has toppled more moderate regimes in Libya and Egypt.)
There is an important Assyrian Christian (Aramaic speaking) minority community in Iran, mostly concentrated in Western Iran.
Obama's policies are very destructive to the Middle Eastern Christian community and may result in its extinction, he is destabilizing the entire region and his policies will without doubt eventually result in more bloodshed and war. Obama is a danger not only to the people of the United States but the entire world. (Some good news however, Obama has become basically a laughingstock in Europe and his poll numbers are finally collapsing in America. As Clint Eastwood said, "Obama is the greatest fraud ever perpetuated upon the American people." I would say "foisted upon" the American people by the Liberal News Media and the entire Left-wing establishment that runs this country.)
The sad thing is that people are dying because of Obama's incompetence, negligence, or perhaps his agenda, if that is what it is. God forbid, but Obama may be the deathblow upon Middle Eastern Christianity.
My fear is-will America endure until the end of this man's term in office and can Middle Eastern Christianity endure until the end of this administration and can it survive the long term negative effects of this administrations policies and recover from them? And I thought Bush was bad.
IRS targets Christians
It is obvious that President Obama tasked the IRS to target conservative groups in order to suppress the vote so that he would be re-elected. He particularly felt threatened by the TEA Party movement so he had the IRS target them.
These actions are clearly criminal. I think it is important to see who was targeted. Groups supporting traditional marriage (or opposing "gay" marriage), groups supporting Israel, groups that promote the United States Constitution, Evangelical Christian groups.
One of the most disturbing things about this entire scandal is the person of Lois Lerner. She began her career my suing the Christian Coalition. Although she failed in her lawsuit, her hatred of Christianity and her anti-Christian activism got her a career in the IRS. Attacking Christians is all the Lois Lerner has done her entire life. And she is running the IRS.
To add insult to injury, we see videos or IRS agents partying-blowing over $15 million line-dancing and making Star Trek spoofs. And to top it of, they gave themselves $70 million in bonuses. (Of course they didn't keep receipts or records of expenses.) Obama promised action (when he himself, I am convinced, ordered the targeting of Christians) but no one has been fired or in anyway been held accountable and guilty parties have actually been promoted.
A few years ago, someone wanted me to take over an organization that they were trying to start-called "The Aramaic Research Institute." They had received threatening letters from the IRS. I saw the threatening letters and became very frightened by them.
I heard a commentator say-and this is true-Americans live in fear of the IRS-and fear the IRS more than they do Al Qaida and see the IRS as more of a threat to them individually.
Why? I doubt any Islamic organization ever gets interrogated or audited by the IRS (especially under this administration).
The Bureaucracy of the United States is Liberal. Modern Liberalism is strongly anti-Christians. (I understand that there are Liberal Christians-what I am speaking of is the Modern Liberal Establishment.) Modern Liberalism is radically secular but at the same time rabidly pro-Muslim.
Since the Aramaic Research Institute was a Middle Eastern CHRISTIAN organization-it was flagged for special attention by the IRS.
The idea was to get different people who study the Aramaic Bible to have a place to pool their resources.
NSA violates the Bill of Rights
The NSA has built a large facility in Utah where it stores all email correspondence. A man named Snowdon has exposed how the U.S. government is recording and listening to all of our phone calls. The government claims that it is doing this to protect us from Muslim terrorism-but:
1. Obama has said that the war on terror is over and Al Qaida is on the run-well, is it or isn't it?
2. Obama has forbidden the government from monitoring radical mosques-such as the mosque in Boston that produced the "Boston Marathon" bombers.
3. Concerning the "Boston Marathon" bombers-the Tsarnaev Brothers-they were ALL over the internet-posting Jihadist messages on youtube and facebook. And yet, although they were warned by the Russians that Tamerlane Tsarnaev was a terrorist-and the FBI interviewed him-after the attack, the government did not know who they were and released photos to the public for help in identifying them. So it seems that the NSA's monitoring isn't very effective. But it isn't about security or preventing terrorism-it is about total government control.
It comes down to this-the US Constitution forbids such searches and seizures. What the NSA is doing is unconstitutional-against the 4th Amendment. If the government wants to be able to seize everyone's records-the 4th Amendment must be repealed first.
Obama says-No Christian Schools
While in Ireland, Obama denounced "Catholic and Protestant" schools and said that Christian schools promote division. (It was interesting to watch the shocked expression of the Irish children standing behind him and then the look conveying "this guy is crazy" upon their faces, especially on a little girl standing behind the president.) Now, Obama did go to an Islamic Madrassa (private religious school) as a child and fondly remembers it in his biographies and in interviews where he also states that the Islamic call to prayer to him is the most beautiful sound that he has ever heard.
"The Horde"
I am interested in Mongolia because of how in its early days, many Mongols belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East (the "Nestorian" Church). I saw the movie "The Horde" about the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde was a division of the Mongolian Empire that settled near Russian and whom the Russians had to fight for decades. The Golden Horde, like most of the Western Mongols, converted to Islam early on. (The Mongols in Iran and Iraq were Buddhist and pro-Christian for a time before converting to Islam. The Mongolian related tribe the Khazars converted to Judaism.)
It turns out that the movie is about Saint Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow and his Healing of the Tatar Queen Taidula from Blindness. By Tartar they mean "Mongols of the Golden Horde." Queen Taidula was the Queen Mother. In 1357, Alexius was summoned by Jani Beg [Janibek], the Khan of the Golden Horde, to cure his mother from blindness. The metropolitan's success is held to have prevented a Tatar raid on Moscow. Alexius was also an author of a number of sermons and epistles. He was glorified (canonized) by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1448 and has been revered as one of the patron saints of Moscow.
The movie depicts the Mongols as a very brutal people. But some characters are humanized and relatable. However, I think the depictions are largely accurate. And yet, some of the Tartars in Russia were offended by the depiction of Mongols in the movie. The Russian Orthodox Church sponsored the production of this movie.
With its $12 million budget, lavish sets, and elaborate costume designs, "The Horde" is expected to draw large crowds of movie fans when it opens in Russia on September 20.
But not everyone is eager to see the film, which depicts life under the Golden Horde, the Mongol khanate that controlled large portions of Eurasia during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. The main detractors are expected to be Russia's nearly 6 million Tatars, who are considered the country's modern-day descendants of nomads who joined Genghis Khan's army and eventually helped to create the Golden Horde. They say the film -- which received financial backing from Orthodox Encyclopedia, a company that has backed numerous movies glorifying the Russian Orthodox Church and the lives of its saints -- falsely depicts the Golden Horde as an empire dominated by random violence, greed, and ignorance.
The film's director, Andrei Proshkin, has defended the film as a work of "historic fiction," saying it was never intended as a true-to-life depiction of the Golden Horde. Still, he has acknowledged that the movie is likely to displease many viewers in Tatarstan, Russia's prosperous and predominantly Muslim republic that is home to the majority of the country's Tatars. "It's difficult to predict what kind of reaction there's going to be [in Tatarstan]," Proshkin says. "Probably, people are going to be offended. But what can you do?"
See: http://www.rferl.org/content/the-horde-film-tatarstan-stereotypes-russia/24713352.html
Arab Christian Judge Jeanine Perro
Judge Jeanine was born Jeanine Ferris and is the daughter of Nasser and Esther Ferris. I respect her because she boldly speaks the truth, almost like the Old Testament prophets, in this wicked and adulterous age we live in. (Judge Perro did go through an ugly divorce. She does speak the truth candidly and boldly.) She exposed the fact that the IRS just gave millions in dollars to its employees-including Lois Lerner and others who used the IRS as a weapon against those with whom it disagreed. The government is criminalizing people's conscience.
The Aramaic Book of Enoch
The upcoming Russell Crowe movie "Noah" features a heavy influence from the Aramaic Book of Enoch. El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is a video game based on the Aramaic Book of Enoch.
Superman and Jesus Christ
In Superman, there are many references to Superman being a Christ-figure and the last two Superman movies (Superman Returns and Man of Steel) are full of references to Jesus Christ. In fact, in Man of Steel, Superman goes to church and seeks counsel from a pastor! The studio actually used the Christian and Biblical references to promote the movie.
Stephen belatedly answers a query
The book by Joseph Paskha is properly titled "The Aramaic Gospel and Acts Companion." There is also an interlineal Aramaic New Testament that was published by the way international. It goes with his "The Aramaic Gospel and Acts." I found both books available on Amazon. Also, Aramaic Bible Translation did have some English transliteration Bibles. Andrew Gabriel Roth has Syriac and Hebrew Script Aramaic New Testaments. Erico Rocco also has a good version of the "Message of Matthew." I don't agree with the theology of the Way International-which is very similar to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Also, Andrew Gabriel Roth is a Peshitta Primacist. This means that he believes that the Peshitta is the original version of the New Testament. I met him and listened to him speak and I think he gave a good presentation. Jesus spoke Aramaic. The Syriac Peshitta is an Aramaic version of the Bible-and is important. But it isn't the original text. Sometimes you have to use your judgment. The entire Aramaic Bible is being translated by Gorgias Press. They have good resources but a lot of their stuff is expensive.
Sorry about the delay in answering.
Blessings,
Justice Roberts and Gay Marriage
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. worked behind the scenes for gay rights activists, and his legal expertise helped them persuade the Supreme Court to issue a landmark 1996 ruling protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation.
Then a lawyer specializing in appellate work, the conservative Roberts helped represent the gay rights activists as part of his law firm's pro bono work. He did not write the legal briefs or argue the case before the high court, but he was instrumental in reviewing filings and preparing oral arguments, according to several lawyers intimately involved in the case
Immigration and an unpleasant truth-are we citizens or subjects?
I was thinking, we might as well have an absolute monarchy in this country because our government doesn't care about the will of the American people but rules with indifference. It is now known that the illegal aliens will vote for Democrats upwards of 75%. If they are legalized-without border security-America will become a one party system-with total rule by the Democrat Party. They will receive over 20 million new voters.
Passage of Amnesty Bill will spell the end of the American Republic By James Simpson http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/06/passage_of_the_amnesty_bill_will_spell_the_end_of_our_republic.html
On Monday, June 24, 2013, the U.S. Senate passed a cloture motion (which ends debate) on the Schumer-Corker-Hoeven Amendment to the Gang of Eight's horrifying illegal alien amnesty bill - mislabeled "immigration reform." The true purpose of this amnesty proposal is to capture future votes for the Democratic Party. Those who do not acknowledge that blatantly obvious fact either suffer from some debilitating mental illness or are working for the other side. On rare occasions, even the Left admit the objective. Eliseo Medina, the honorary Chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, and International Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), said in 2008: ...If we reform the immigration laws, it puts 12 million people on the path to citizenship and eventually voters. Can you imagine if we have ...even two out of three, if we get 8 million new voters... we will create a governing coalition for the long term, not just for an election cycle. The "governing coalition for the long term" refers of course to the "permanent progressive majority" Democrats have fantasized about for decades. The number of illegals in this country is repeatedly cited as 11 million. This is almost certainly an underestimate. In reality the number is 20 to 30 million or more, according to a 2007 study in Social Contract. Bear Stearns estimated about 20 million in 2005. When amnesty passed in 1986, official estimates were 1.2 million illegals. There were actually 2.7 million - more than double. Within ten years, INS estimated the illegal population had grown to 10 million. It is delusional to believe the number has only increased by another 1 million in the 17 years since. Furthermore, when amnesty passes, the newly-legal aliens will invite their relatives to come, further inflating that number through chain migration. Herein lies the real reason Democrats are slavering for this amnesty bill to pass and are tickling themselves pink that there are Republicans stupid and gullible, (or corrupt) enough to help them realize their dream. And make no mistake, an increase of 30 million in the Democrat Party voter base will guarantee Democrat majorities in the U.S. House, Senate and Presidency for the foreseeable future. Despite the impossibly bizarre belief by some Republicans that amnesty will make illegals "like us," a high level Congressional source recently acknowledged to me that passage of this bill will spell the end of our Republic and that we literally have only weeks to stop it. Despite House Speaker John Boehner's somewhat ambiguous assurances, this bill is likely to get a vote in the House. The original Gang-of-Eight bill was really bad, as became readily apparent quite quickly. The overtly fraudulent Schumer-Corker-Hoeven Amendment was offered as a fig leaf to reassure fools that the original bill -- which already promised in-and-of-itself to enhance border security - would actually enhance border security. But in reality it makes things worse
Here is the new ad promoting my books and ministry.
O'Reilly Factor on Immigration
What does English sound like to foreigners?
Not a single word in Adriano Celentano's song, "Prisencolinensinanciusol," means anything.
Before Babel? Ancient mother tongue reconstructed
By Tia GhosePublished May 07, 2013 LiveScience-www.foxnews.com
Tower of Babel
The idea of a universal human language goes back at least to the Bible, in which humanity spoke a common tongue, but were punished with mutual unintelligibility after trying to build the Tower of Babel all the way to heaven. But not all linguists believe in a single common origin of language, and trying to reconstruct that language seemed impossible. Most researchers thought they could only trace a language's roots back 3,000 to 4,000 years. (Even so, researchers recently said they had traced the roots of a common mother tongue to many Eurasian languages back 8,000 to 9,500 years to Anatolia, a southwestern Asian peninsula that is now part of Turkey.) Pagel, however, wondered whether language evolution proceeds much like biological evolution. If so, the most critical words, such as the frequently used words that define our social relationships, would change much more slowly.To find out if he could uncover those ancient words, Pagel and his colleagues in a previous study tracked how quickly words changed in modern languages. They identified the most stable words. They also mapped out how different modern languages were related. They then reconstructed ancient words based on the frequency at which certain sounds tend to change in different languages for instance, p's and f's often change over time in many languages, as in the change from "pater" in Latin to the more recent term "father" in English. The researchers could predict what 23 words, including "I," "ye," "mother," "male," "fire," "hand" and "to hear" might sound like in an ancestral language dating to 15,000 years ago. In other words, if modern-day humans could somehow encounter their Stone Age ancestors, they could say one or two very simple statements and make themselves understood, Pagel said.
Limitations of tracing language
Unfortunately, this language technique may have reached its limits in terms of how far back in history it can go. "It's going to be very difficult to go much beyond that, even these slowly evolving words are starting to run out of steam," Pagel told LiveScience. The study raises the possibility that researchers could combine linguistic data with archaeology and anthropology "to tell the story of human prehistory," for instance by recreating ancient migrations and contacts between people, said William Croft, a comparative linguist at the University of New Mexico, who was not involved in the study. "That has been held back because most linguists say you can only go so far back in time," Croft said. "So this is an intriguing suggestion that you can go further back in time."
A mass exodus of Christians is currently underway. Millions of Christians are being displaced from one end of the Islamic world to the other. We are reliving the true history of how the Islamic world, much of which prior to the Islamic conquests was almost entirely Christian, came into being. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recently said: "The flight of Christians out of the region is unprecedented and it's increasing year by year." In our lifetime alone "Christians might disappear altogether from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Egypt." Ongoing reports from the Islamic world certainly support this conclusion: Iraq was the earliest indicator of the fate awaiting Christians once Islamic forces are liberated from the grip of dictators.
In 2003, Iraq's Christian population was at least one million. Today fewer than 400,000 remain—the result of an anti-Christian campaign that began with the U.S. occupation of Iraq, when countless Christian churches were bombed and countless Christians killed, including by crucifixion and beheading. The 2010 Baghdad church attack, which saw nearly 60 Christian worshippers slaughtered, is the tip of a decade-long iceberg. Now, as the U.S. supports the jihad on Syria's secular president Assad, the same pattern has come to Syria: entire regions and towns where Christians lived for centuries before Islam came into being have now been emptied, as the opposition targets Christians for kidnapping, plundering, and beheadings, all in compliance with mosque calls telling the populace that it's a "sacred duty" to drive Christians away. In October 2012 the last Christian in the city of Homs—which had a Christian population of some 80,000 before jihadis came—was murdered. One teenage Syrian girl said: "We left because they were trying to kill us… because we were Christians…. Those who were our neighbors turned against us. At the end, when we ran away, we went through balconies. We did not even dare go out on the street in front of our house."
In Egypt, some 100,000 Christian Copts have fled their homeland soon after the "Arab Spring." In September 2012, the Sinai's small Christian community was attacked and evicted by Al Qaeda linked Muslims, Reuters reported. But even before that, the Coptic Orthodox Church lamented the "repeated incidents of displacement of Copts from their homes, whether by force or threat. Displacements began in Ameriya [62 Christian families evicted], then they stretched to Dahshur [120 Christian families evicted], and today terror and threats have reached the hearts and souls of our Coptic children in Sinai." Iraq, Syria, and Egypt are part of the Arab world. But even in "black" African and "white" European nations with Muslim majorities, Christians are fleeing. In Mali, after a 2012 Islamic coup, as many as 200,000 Christians fled. According to reports, "the church in Mali faces being eradicated," especially in the north "where rebels want to establish an independent Islamist state and drive Christians out… there have been house to house searches for Christians who might be in hiding, churches and other Christian property have been looted or destroyed, and people tortured into revealing any Christian relatives." At least one pastor was beheaded. Even in European Bosnia, Christians are leaving en mass "amid mounting discrimination and Islamization." Only 440,000 Catholics remain in the Balkan nation, half the prewar figure. Problems cited are typical: "while dozens of mosques were built in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, no building permissions [permits] were given for Christian churches." "Time is running out as there is a worrisome rise in radicalism," said one authority, who further added that the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina were "persecuted for centuries" after European powers "failed to support them in their struggle against the Ottoman Empire." And so history repeats itself.
- In Ethiopia, after a Christian was accused of desecrating a Koran, thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes when "Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes."
- In the Ivory Coast—where Christians have literally been crucified—Islamic rebels "massacred hundreds and displaced tens of thousands" of Christians.
- In Libya, Islamic rebels forced several Christian religious orders, serving the sick and needy in the country since 1921, to flee.
To anyone following the plight of Christians under Islamic persecution, none of this is surprising. As I document in my new book, "Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians," all around the Islamic world—in nations that do not share the same race, language, culture, or economics, in nations that share only Islam—Christians are being persecuted into extinction. Such is the true face of extremist Islamic resurgence.
Raymond Ibrahim is author of the new book "Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians" (Regnery Publishing 2013). A Middle East and Islam specialist, he is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center and an associate fellow at the Middle East Forum.
Security tightened after soldier's hacking death
(May 22, 2013) British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the "sickening attack" and said it had nothing to do with Islam, despite claims by the suspect. Islamic terrorists hacked a man to death during broad daylight on a busy street in London, England.
Footage -- obtained by ITV news and The Sun newspaper -- showed a man in a dark jacket and knit cap walking toward a camera, clutching a meat cleaver and a knife. Speaking in English with a British accent, he apologized that women passers-by "have had to witness this" barbarity, saying that "in our land our women have to see the same." [Notice that this news report says nothing of the man's race. If you didn't see the accompanying photograph you would assume that he was a native Englishman.]
He gave no indication what that land was as he urged people to tell the government to "bring our troops back." British troops are deployed in Afghanistan and recently supported the French-led intervention in Mali.
"We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you," the man declared. "We must fight them as they fight us." The camera then panned away to show a body lying on the ground. (Not surprisingly, it came out that the terrorists who hacked the soldier to death were both receiving welfare.)
Stephen says, "When the Prime Minister says that the attack has nothing to do with Islam, when it does, it clearly shows that the Islamist terrorists are in fact winning and it shows that England's tolerance for Islamist extremism and unwillingness to accept facts, or allow anyone to discuss Islam honestly, has created an environment in England in which Muslims feel that they can freely walk up to a British soldier and hack him to death and are so confident that they feel no need to flee the scene of the crime. Will England continue to tolerate this? Cameron's comment shows that they will and they will continue to have such attacks. Also, note that the man has a cleaver and a butchers knife in his blood covered hands. When he says "our land" he means "Dar Es-Islam" all Muslim territory. All Muslim lands are viewed as one land by many Muslims. We cannot continue to be so ignorant to the goals and purposes of the Islamist."
In the end the terrorist will lose-because their cultures are collapsing and the only reason that they are being sustained currently is the huge amount of Saudi oil wealth.
What can be done?
We mustn't give up hope because there are things that we can do still, and some people are doing those things. Such as the "English Defense League." http://englishdefenceleague.org/
Woolwich: We Are At War
Category: EDL News Published on Wednesday, 22 May 2013 21:29 Written by Pyrus Hits: 17107
The terrible events in Woolwich today were a reminder of something very few are willing to accept: we are at war. Despite what Islamic extremists may claim, this war is not being waged against all Muslims.
'Why?' is a dangerous question, but it's one we must ask.
And where we find fault, criticisms must be made.
We must criticise the Muslim community's failure to deal with the extremists in their midst.
We must criticise the self-segregation of certain sections of the Muslim community.
And we must continue to campaign in favour of reform and against the continued spread of extremism.
This is as much a war on Muslims as criticising government policy is an attack on democracy.
The soldier who was so savagely killed today did not ask to be involved in this war.
His murderer's actions are incomparable.
He didn't act in the defence of Islam, because it is not Islam that is under attack.
Unfortunately, none of this changes the sad fact that many of Islam's followers are at war with us.
In fact, Islam has been at war with its neighbours since its inception.
The Qur'an itself tells us how Mohammed butchered those who stood in his way.
But within the next few days that's exactly what we'll read in the newspapers.
Some claim that being a soldier puts you in the line of fire, whether you are in uniform or not.
And some believe that campaigning against Islamic extremism will just make matters worse.
The victims deserve the truth.
We don't like to admit it, we don't want it to be true – and that's absolutely fine.
But it doesn't change the simple fact: we are at war.
We need to clamp down on extremist preachers and the mosques that continue to host them.
We need to kick the extremists off our streets and out of our country.
Quite simply, we need to cut out the cancer that is Islamic extremism.
This is a war in defence of our culture, our rights, our freedom and our country.
It's about time our government began to act like it.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family
Obama endeavors to end the war on Islamic terror
Lois Lerner-anti-Christian activist
The threat of tyranny and the threat to Freedom coming from the White House
1. Using the IRS to persecute and intimidate Christians and conservatives
4. Attacking freedom of the press by seizing phone records and email correspondence
In the promotion I will promote a new book "De-coding the Language of Jesus".
Other projects that I will work on this summer include:
I also plan to promote my artwork at the May 2014 Comicpalooza at Houston Texas.
Government Crack-down on Christians in Iran
In London last week, two Muslim men shouting jihad's ancient war-cry, "Allahu Akbar" beheaded a British soldier with a cleaver—in a busy intersection and in broad daylight. They boasted of their crime in front of passersby and asked to be videotaped.
As surreal as this event may seem, Islamic beheadings are not uncommon in the West, including the U.S. In 2011, a Pakistani-American who helped develop "Bridges TV"—a station "designed to counter negative stereotypes of Muslims"—beheaded his wife.
In Germany in 2012, another Muslim man beheaded his wife in front of their six children—again while hollering "Allahu Akbar."
Beheading non-Muslim "infidels" in the Islamic world is especially commonplace:
In Yemen a "sorceress" was beheaded by the "Supporters of Sharia";
In Indonesia, three Christian girls on their way to school were beheaded; in Syria last Christmas, U.S.-supported rebels beheaded a Christian man and fed his body to the dogs;
In Africa—Somalia, Tanzania, Mali—Christians are regularly decapitated. (For a comprehensive picture of Christian suffering under Islam, see my new book, "Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians.")
Most recently, a disturbing video surfaced from "liberated" Libya of a machete-wielding masked man hacking at the head of a captive—again, to cries of "Allahu Akbar!"
In the U.S., where Muslims are less than 1% of the population, London-style attacks are uncommon. Islamic assertiveness is limited to political activism dedicated to portraying Islam as a "religion of peace," and sporadic, but clandestine, acts of terror. In Europe, where Muslims make for much larger minorities, open violence is common. But because they are still a vulnerable minority, Islamic violence is always placed in the context of "grievances," a word that pacifies Westerners. With an approximate 10% Muslim population, London's butchers acted brazenly, yes, but they still invoked grievances. Standing with bloodied hands, the murderer declared: "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you until you leave us alone…. The only reason we have done this is because Muslims are dying by British soldiers every day." Grievances disappear when Muslims become at least 35-40% of a nation and feel capable of waging an all-out jihad, as in Nigeria, where the Muslim-majority north has been terrorizing Christians—bombing hundreds of churches and beheading hundreds of infidels. Sudan was an earlier paradigm, when the Khartoum government slaughtered millions to cleanse Sudan of Christians and polytheists. Historically Christian-majority Lebanon plunged into a deadly civil war as the Muslim population grew restive. Once extremists become the majority, the violence ironically wanes, but that's because there are fewer infidels to persecute. And what infidels remain lead paranoid, low-key existences—as dhimmis—always careful to "know their place." With an 85% Muslim majority, Egypt is increasingly representative of this paradigm. Christian Copts are under attack, but not in an all-out jihad. Rather, under the Muslim Brotherhood their oppression is becoming institutionalized, including through new "blasphemy" laws which have seen many Christians attacked and imprisoned.
Attacks on infidels finally end when Muslims become 100% of the population, as in Saudi Arabia—where all its citizens are Muslim, and churches and other non-Islamic expressions are totally banned.
Such is Islam's Rule of Numbers. Thus as Muslim populations continue growing in Western nations, count on growing, and brazen, numbers of attacks on infidels—beheadings and such. Most recently in France, which holds Europe's largest Muslim population, another European soldier was stabbed in the neck by a pious Muslim.
The question is, how long will mainstream media and politicians refuse to face reality, including by propagating the false "grievance" claim, which, once Muslims reach enough numbers—as is projected for Europe—will be discarded for the full-blown jihad?
Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians
Genocide of Christians and Jews by Meaghan Kelly with Ralph Peters and John Bolton
Obama set to prosecute those who negatively criticize Islam
A U.S. attorney in Tennessee said that it's possible that some inflammatory criticism of Muslims posted on social networking sites could violate federal civil rights laws. "We need to educate people about Muslims and their civil rights, and as long as we're here, they're going to be protected," U.S. attorney Bill Killian told the Tullahoma News last week. "This is also to inform the public about what federal laws are in effect and what the consequences are." Killian, along with an FBI agent, are expected to attend a meeting Tuesday in Manchester, Tenn. hosted by a local Muslim group to "educate people on the First Amendment and its application in society." His comments sparked concern among conservative groups that the federal government is about to crack down on anti-Muslim rhetoric – a claim the U.S. attorney denies. "It has nothing to do with Sharia law," Killian told Fox News. "It has to do with the United States Constitution and federal statutes. You have a right under the First Amendment to hate Muslims. You can hate all Muslims if you want to." But he added a caveat — "as long as it does not rise to the level of violating federal civil rights laws." The meeting comes after a Tennessee lawmaker posted a photograph of a man aiming a shotgun with the caption, "How to wink at a Muslim." "It's an open forum to discuss the First Amendment — to discuss its application to all religions and to Muslim religions," he said. "And to discuss federal civil rights statutes which we've done at other times and other places." Killian said the federal government has participated in at least a dozen similar Muslim education meetings across the state. But Andy Miller, of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition, believes the federal government is using those meetings to silence and intimidate critics of Islam. "There's an effort to step on free speech — any speech that's contrary to Islam," Miller told Fox News. "It seems like our federal government is going down that path." Miller said Tennessee has become a battleground over what he called a crackdown on anti-Muslim speech. "This is the Bible Belt," he told Fox News. "There's an effort to prove that if they can do it here, they can do it anywhere." Killian said the supposition that the federal government would prosecute people for exercising their constitutional rights is "ridiculous." "We don't prosecute people for the First Amendment," he said. "In fact, this event is promoting the First Amendment for all people – not only to exercise their religion, but to express their freedom of speech regardless of what it is." But the big question is where free speech might cross the line and violate federal civil rights laws. "Could an Internet posting or letter in the mail or a phone call or a personal confrontation constitute a violation of those statutes," he asked, citing 18 US Code 241 and 18 US Code 245. "Yes, it could." So what about the lawmaker who posted the photograph of the shotgun? Would that be a violation of federal law? "I don't know whether it does or not," Killian told Fox News. "We're treating that as if it were offensive conduct and trying to use this event as we have on many other occasions in the district — utilize events of this nature to have people understand the Muslim religion and the Arab and Muslim people." Miller said the government's explanation is problematic. "It doesn't make anybody here locally feel any better," he told Fox News. "It seems as thought they are creating a sacred group here that consistently gets attention from the federal government." "It's interesting the Department of Justice and Homeland Security really seem to take up the banner for the Muslim population," Miller said. "Why aren't they having one for the Baptists? Why aren't they having one for the Methodists? Why aren't they having one for Jews?" And Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, believes the Obama administration is using federal law to protect Muslims from criticism, Politico reports. "In its latest effort to protect followers of Islam in the U.S., the Obama Justice Department warns against using social media to spread information considered inflammatory against Muslims, threatening that it could constitute a violation of civil rights," the group wrote online.
TAMERLANE
and the Destruction of the Assyrian Aramaic Church of the East in Central Asia
WHO WAS TAMERLANE?
One of the Boston Marathon Massacre was named after the Islamic warlord Tamerlane.
Timur, Tarmashirin Khan, Emir Timur (Persian: تیمور Timūr, Chagatai Temür "iron"; 9 April 1336 – 18 February 1405), historically known as Tamerlane (from Persian: تيمور لنگ, Timūr-e Lang, Aksak Timur "Timur the Lame" in Turkish), was a Turkic ruler. He conquered West, South and Central Asia and founded the Timurid dynasty. He was the grandfather of Ulugh Beg, who ruled Central Asia from 1411 to 1449, and the great-great-great-grandfather of Babur Beg, founder of the Mughal Empire, which ruled parts of South Asia for around two centuries, from 1526 until 1707 (till their defeat in the 27 year war with the Marathas, after which it became a Maratha protectorate).
Timur envisioned the restoration of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan. As a means of legitimating his conquests, Timur relied on Islamic symbols and language, referring to himself as the Sword of Islam. He converted nearly all the Borjigin leaders to Islam during his lifetime. His armies were inclusively multi-ethnic. During his lifetime Timur emerged as the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world after defeating the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire and the declining Sultanate of Delhi. Timur had also decisively defeated the Christian Knights Hospitaller at Smyrna, styling himself a Ghazi. (A "Ghazi" is an Islamic holy warrior.) By the end of his reign Timur had also gained complete control over all the remnants of the Chagatai Khanate, Ilkhanate, Golden Horde and even attempted to restore the Yuan dynasty.
Timur's armies were feared throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe, sizable parts of which were laid to ruin by his campaigns. Scholars estimate that his military campaigns caused the deaths of 17 million people, amounting to about 5% of the world population.
Timur's body was exhumed from his tomb in 1941 by the Soviet anthropologist Mikhail M. Gerasimov. From his bones it was clear that Timur was a tall and broad chested man with strong cheek bones. Gerasimov reconstructed the likeness of Timur from his skull. At 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 meters), Timur was tall for his era. Gerasimov also confirmed Timur's lameness due to a hip injury. Gerasimov also found that Timur's facial characteristics conformed to that of fairly Mongoloid features with somewhat Caucasoid admixture. In the study of "Anthropological composition of the population of Central Asia" shows the cranium of Timur predominate the characters of the South Siberian Mongoloid type. Timur is classified as being closer to the Mongoloid race with some admixture.
It is alleged that Timur's tomb was inscribed with the words, "When I rise from the dead, the world shall tremble." It is also said that when Gerasimov exhumed the body, an additional inscription inside the casket was found reading, "Who ever opens my tomb, shall unleash an invader more terrible than I." In any case, two days after Gerasimov had begun the exhumation, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, its invasion of the U.S.S.R. Timur was re-buried with full Islamic ritual in November 1942 just before the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad.
"Nestorian" Christianity survived in India and in Iraq and Iran. What happened to all the "Nestorian" Christians in Central Asia, Mongolia and China? Tamerlane slaughtered them.
The "Nestorian" community was weakened due to the Black Death. Tamerlane gave them the killing blow with his massacres of Christians. Christianity in China then dwindled and then disappeared decades afterwards since it was cut off from its leadership.
That 5% of all mankind that Tamerlane killed, included the Nestorian Community in Central Asia-which he killed off. Tamerlane wiped out Aramaic Christianity in Central Asia.
So, Tamerlane was a genocidal radical Moslem maniac. Now, what kind of person would name their child after a monster like him?
(I discuss this in my paper "Assyrian Christianity in the Mongol Empire" see www.jaas.org.)
The FBI is incompetent
Anyone named after a genocidal maniac like Tamerlane should be automatically suspected for being an Islamic terrorist. It is equivalent of naming a child Adolf Hitler. In fact, Tamerlane was probably worse than Hitler-because Hitler's genocide against Jews and Gypsies was unsuccessful. Tamerlane's genocide of Central Asia "Nestorian" Christians was successful. Also, I don't think that Hitler killed 5% of all mankind-although he may have and he would have if he could have.
Russia tipped off the FBI that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a dangerous terrorist and they did nothing about it-and this resulted in the death and maiming of several Americans.
Tamerlane went to Russia for six months. During this time he was likely receiving his Al Qaida training. The FBI wasn't monitoring him.
However, about a year and a half ago, the FBI let the Muslim Brotherhood purge all of the FBI's training material that they found offensive. So, the FBI is not properly trained to deal with terrorists. Representative Michelle Bauckmann did confront the FBI on this incident and insisted on reviewing the materials. The FBI attempted to prevent her from doing so but finally relented.
The hopeless corruption of the Liberal News Media-The Liberal News Media openly hoped that the terrorists were white republicans!
On Salon.com, David Sirota wrote, "Let's hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American!" The article is still online-so Salon must be proud of it. David Sorita thinks that Americans are unkind to Moslems-who are being victimized by Americans-and (when he wrote the article) IF the terrorists were Moslems-it may motivate America to be more unkind to them. In Sirota's eyes-America is the problem-not Islamic fanaticism.
Chris Matthew's also openly blamed Evangelical Christians, TEA party people, Republicans and disgruntled white people for the terrorist attacks before it was discovered that it was Islamic radicals.
I have read the disgusting Salon article and heard Chris Matthew's revolting comments myself.
Legal and Illegal Immigration is out of control
Joker was given American citizenship on September 11-Patriots Day.
The Tsarnaev brothers were collecting welfare.
The Tsarnaev parents came to America-were given political asylum and immediately returned to their homeland.
Why is the US Government bringing people over here that kill Americans?
Still Obama is more interesting in protecting Islam-than in protecting Muslims
In April, Obama said "I am not the strapping young Muslim socialist that I used to be." Supposedly, he said it in jest-but it is true. I am convinced that Obama is a Homosexual-Islamo-Marxist. (I do believe that Obama is "gay" or "bi-sexual." But whether he is or not, he belongs to the political homosexual movement as he has made very clear. There is a homosexual political ideology and of course the "homosexual identity movement" which obviously Obama identifies with.)
Saudi Arabian arrested at Boston marathon massacre site
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2328316044001/glenn-beck-on-the-boston-marathon-bombing/?intcmp=obnetwork
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been neutered by Barack Obama. He has forced them to release thousands of illegal alien criminals over the past four years – resulting in hundreds of crimes including 19 murders and 142 rapes. The ICE Union president has reported on how they have been told to delay and cancel deportations en masse. But there is one foreign national that Obama seems to want to deport ASAP. An expert on terrorism says the Saudi national here on a student visa who was the original "person of interest" in connection with Monday's Boston Marathon bombing is going to be deported from the U.S. next week. The foreign student from Revere, Mass., is identified as 20-year-old Abdul Rahman Ali Alharbi. "I just learned from my own sources that he is now going to be deported on national security grounds next Tuesday, which is very unusual," Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism told Sean Hannity of Fox News Wednesday night. Why suddenly is al-Harbi being sent out of the country as the terror investigation is yet, ongoing? On Wednesday evening, Reuters reported that President Obama held an meeting this afternoon with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal at the White House. The meeting was not on the public schedule. We also learned yesterday that Secretary of State John Kerry had met with the same minister on Tuesday, and the meeting was abruptly closed to the media. Why is he being rushed out of the country, despite revelations that his family has ties to terrorists, including some currently detained at Gitmo? Does this special treatment have anything to do with the fact that al-Harbi is part of a powerful Saudi family? ICE sources have reported that the deportation was set to be framed as a "voluntary" departure to be with his family.
Fox News has done a great job on commentary on the Boston Massacre
Judge Jeanine Pirro took on the Tsarnaev mother very boldly and directly. Bill O'Reilly and Charles Krauthammer took Obama to task for not using the words "Muslim Terrorists." O'Reilly cannot understand why Obama refuses to call Islamic terrorist what it is-the easy and obvious answer is that he is a Muslim.
Brigette Gabriel
I recently met Brigette Gabriel when she came and spoke in the Houston area. I admire her work and how she boldly speaks out against radical Islam.
Andrew Gabriel Roth
I also recently met with Andrew Gabriel Roth. He is a "Peshitta Primacist" and I am not, however I did enjoy his presentation. Roth has a version of the Peshitta New Testament available which he has entitled the "Aramaic English New Testament" and his book "Ruach Qadim."
Beth Mardutha
This is an excellent resource on the Syriac Christian heritage. Check out the web-site.
Aramaic, Khuzdul and Neo-Khuzdul
I am interested in the study and preservation of an ancient language-Aramaic-which was the language spoken by Jesus Christ. I think it is interesting that people will study fictional and artificial languages such as Klingon, Elvish and now Dwarvish! Tolkien created the Dwarfish language and based it upon Hebrew. Very little of Tolkien's Dwarvish, what he called Khuzdul has survived so linguists have created Neo-Khuzdul and based it upon the meager work of Tolkien.
(See the "Dwarrow Scholar." In the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies Neo-Khuzdul is used. Since only about a page of Tolkien's Khuzdul is known (there may be more in some unpublished notes somewhere) most Neo-Khuzdul is the product of an inventors imagination.
David Salo is the linguist that was hired to create the "Middle Earth" languages dialogue for the "Hobbit/LOTR" movies. He is using apparently, mostly Arabic and Aramaic to build his Dwarvish language.
Here are some excerpts from his web-site. www.midgardsmal.com.
It is interesting to see Aramaic live again in the Hobbit movies or Peter Jackson. Sola seems to be using Arabic and Aramaic grammar for his language but inventing his own vocabulary-using the Tri-Consonantal structure of Semitic languages. For more information see the "Midgardsmal" website.
Maltese Car
I am interested in Semitic Christianity. Semitic speaking Christian communities include (besides the Assyrians and Ethiopians) the Maltese Christians. The language of Malta is a Semitic language derived from Sicilian Arabic. Malta is a Christian nation and majority Roman Catholic.
Malta is developing an electric car.
But isn't the country just 17 miles long?
An electric car boasting more than double the range of the 265-mile-per-charge Tesla Model S is currently in development on the island nation of Malta.
Alternative energy firm Silex Power has announced plans to build a battery-powered luxury car called the Chreos, which it says can go 621 miles between charges.
And it will take only 10 minutes to fill it up.
Using a proprietary system the company calls Hypercharging, owners will be able to plug the Chreos into a high voltage charging station developed specifically for the car for the ultra-fast charge. Tesla employs a similar system for the Model S it calls Supercharging that needs more than an hour to top off the battery pack.
Many details about the Chreos are still under wraps, but in a telephone interview with FoxNews.com, Silex Power CEO Jonathan Grech said the battery is an evolution of existing technologies, rather than an all-new advance in energy storage.
Nice picture-isn't it? The problem is that this is a digital rendering and not a photograph.
I remember reading and seeing pictures of GM's Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars-10 YEARS AGO! So hopefully, the car will really be built and not remain a photo-shopped picture.
Now, the Muslims are still enriched by our buying their oil-which empowers Islamic radicals and endangers all mankind.
It is vitally important that we break our dependency on Saudi oil by exploiting our own energy resources and using electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars.
Heroes of the Faith
Ryan Rotela refused to blaspheme Christ when ordered to do so before class by his professor at University of Florida-Atlanta. Rotela is a Mormon-a group I view as a cult. But, he is a modern day Judah Maccabee-a champion who took a bold stand for religious freedom.
Fox News and Bill O'Reilly have been exposing campus radicalism and attempts by professors to mock Christians and non-Democrats. These professors are cheapening the value of an education.
Also, remember Pastor Abedini: The American pastor jailed in Iran for his faith has been placed in solitary confinement and may now be suffering organ failure, according to family members in Iran who are increasingly alarmed at his deteriorating health. Saeed Abedini, the 32-year-old Christian and American citizen who is serving an eight-year prison term in Iran, was put in solitary confinement following a "peaceful, silent protest" in an outside courtyard at Iran's notoriously brutal Evin prison, according to family members. Conditions at the prison prompted Abedini and other prisoners to sign a petition decrying the lack of medical care and the threats and harsh treatment facing family members who come to visit. Saeed had previously told his family that when he was in solitary confinement in the past, that was the hardest time in his life. That every hour was like one year and that he was losing his memory and his health was deteriorating quickly," said his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, who is at the family's home in Idaho with their two young children. "We believe that he is being beaten in solitary confinement. We have no way of finding out about his health. There will be no more visitations allowed and we will have no way of knowing how Saeed is doing," she said. Abedini has been suffering for months from serious injuries that have not yet been treated, including severe internal bleeding from beatings at the prison, according to supporters. Now there's concern that his kidneys are no longer operating properly. On Monday, prison guards turned Abedini's family members away in what would have been their weekly prison visit, telling them that he is no longer permitted to have visitors. "The latest developments underscore the brutality of Iran's continued violation of human rights – imprisoning, torturing and refusing medical care for Pastor Saeed merely because of his faith. This treatment not only violates international law, but is abhorrent," said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, the organization representing Abedini's U.S.-based family. "We know that a tactic used by the Iranians is to place prisoners in solitary confinement in an effort to get them to give into the demands of prison officials -- in Pastor Saeed's case, to recant his Christian faith."
New Books Available:
This year I have finished my "Chronicles: Facts from the Bible" comic collection number one. "The Epic of Baal the God of Thunder"-which is about Canaanite-Phoenician-Carthaginian-Aramaic mythology and "The Baal Cycle: The Art of the Epic of Baal" is at the printer. I am glad to be finished with the Canaanite myth project. Now-onto other things, which include: 1. Refining "The Mandaeans" 2. "The Restoration of the Lost Ark of the Covenant" 3. The Chaplain in Iraq story.And other projects…
NEW LECTURES AVAILABLE:
See the blog and the you-tube channel for more lectures including "The Red Sea" and "Yahweh Verses the Gods of Egypt" and "Yahweh Verses the Gods of Canaan."
History Channel's "The Bible" now available on DVD
The 10 hour mini-series "The Bible is now available on DVD. It tells the Bible Story from Genesis to Revelation.
The photograph above shows Satan from the Temptation of Christ sequence.
Obama takes away soldiers tuition assistance while continuing to give hundreds of millions to radical Muslims
Why is the U.S. funding higher education for its "Benedict Arnold ally" Pakistan when the Pentagon is cutting tuition assistance for American troops? That's the question Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, asked as he prepared to introduce a bill Tuesday to give Pakistan aid the "sequester" treatment -- halting the money until U.S. tuition assistance is restored. "Why are we funding education programs for our Benedict Arnold ally when we can't fund -- or don't fund -- the education for our military? And to Pakistan of all places, where hatred for America is at its highest. Washington should watch its spending and prioritize," Poe said on the floor Monday. "It's time, Mr. Speaker, to sequester Pakistan." Poe is the latest congressional lawmaker to try and short-circuit the tuition assistance cuts, which the administration began to make in light of the sequester. Last week, Sens. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Kay Hagan, D-N.C., also introduced an amendment to a budget bill to restore the program. Poe described the cost of the program as .1 percent of the Defense Department's budget, and one that has helped graduate 50,000 individuals. said the Marines spent roughly $47 million from the program last year -- comparing that to the $12.7 million spent on higher education in Pakistan. "And that's not all," Poe said. "Since the sequester, the administration has approved $37 million in foreign aid to Pakistan." The figure on higher education aid represents just a fraction of the $47.2 million the U.S. spent on education and social services aid to Pakistan in fiscal 2012. The U.S. spent a total of $370 million on all forms of aid to Pakistan that year -- which also represents just a fraction of the total amount obligated. The aid outrage is similar to that over $250 million in aid recently announced for Egypt. Several branches of the military have pulled back on tuition assistance since the sequester took effect March 1. GI Bills, grants, scholarships and loans that can support a broader continuum of learning and educational goals." The Army program gives soldiers as much as $4,500 annually to take courses, at accredited schools, toward high school and college diplomas. Army officials could not give a specific amount on how much the cuts would save, but said 201,000 soldiers used the program in fiscal 2012 at the cost of $373 million.
Aid spent on Pakistan in fiscal 2012
Higher education: $12.7M
All education and social services: $47.2M
Total aid spent: $370M
Christians, churches dwindling in Iraq since start of war 10 years ago
By Perry Chiaramante
The head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq says that the number of Christian houses of worship there has dwindled alarmingly in the decade since the U.S. invaded and ousted Saddam Hussein from power.
There are just 57 Christian churches in the entire country, down from more than 300 as recently as 2003, Patriarch Louis Sako told Egyptian-based news agency MidEast Christian News. The churches that remain are frequent targets of Islamic extremists, who have driven nearly a million Christians out of the land, say human rights advocates.
"More than two-thirds [of Christians] have emigrated," Warda noted.
Muslim radicals by Cal Thomas (whom I personally dislike)
Obama warned Benghazi survivors to keep silent
Examining his dealings with Egypt during the past two years may give us some clues.
When vast street demonstrations opposed former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Mr. Obama was quick on the trigger to publically call on Mr. Mubarak to resign. Mubarak was a secular dictator who promoted capitalism. There was plenty of corruption, to be sure. But that is cultural; the increase -- not decrease -- in corruption under the Islamic dictator who replaced Mubarak has proven that. Then, when the election between Mohamed Morsi and General Shafik came down to a razor-thin margin, despite much skullduggery at the polls (fraudulent votes, Christians and others prevented from voting), the White House and the U.S. State Department quickly embraced Morsi as the victor. No doubt, they thought an Islamist president would satisfy hard-line Islamists and neutralize would-be terrorists. Yet neither has happened.
Finally, when current Egyptian President Morsi declared himself to be the supreme ruler, not one public word of criticism came from the American administration.
So Mr. Obama has no problem with dictatorship, as long as it's Islamic and not capitalist. That's the first clue.
Clue #2
Rashid Khalidi, Hamas supporter and former PLO advisor, is an old Chicago friend of Mr. Obama's. The president also studied under and maintained a relationship with Edward Said, who served as a member of the Palestine National Council and worked with Yasser Arafat.
No doubt those relationships influenced Obama in turning a blind eye to an Islamist's assertion of power -- never mind the fraud and intimidation involved in the process. Hamas, in particular, is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. They have moved their headquarters from Damascus to Cairo and have gained in strength in Egypt since Morsi's rise.
Clue #3
President Morsi imitates President Obama in both style and substance. Whoever said "imitation is the highest form of flattery" would be proud of Morsi's efforts.
They are both ideologues rather than pragmatists, although they express their ideologies differently given their vastly different political environments.
They both love to rule by decrees and executive orders while paying lip service to other existing authorities. Their aim is the same: choke up the existing system and render it ineffective so it will collapse. From the resulting debris, they will establish a transformed society in their image.
They both have little tolerance for opposition. President Morsi is the luckier of the two in this regard; he has more direct power to muzzle and threaten his opponents. President Obama must settle for threats from his friends -- such as singer Harry Belafonte who encouragedObama to "work like a Third World dictator and just put all these guys in jail."
They both love to hear themselves talk. Not just any talk, but speeches that support ideas that are the opposite of what they actually do. When they give a speech, knowledgeable people in both countries look at each other and ask, "What did he just say?" For both of them, speeches are all about the art of composition -- words, mere words. They speak out of both sides of their mouths.
So don't look to Obama to defend the cause of Christians. His support for Islamist power drowns out the voices of the persecuted. When true freedom-lovers demonstrated against Morsi's decree making himself supreme ruler, the Islamist militia killed some of the protestors and injured hundreds more. But the White House only mumbled anemic words like: "We call for calm and for all parties to work together to resolve their differences peacefully."
The Christians being killed in Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, and Nigeria don't have an advocate in the White House, but they do have one in Heaven. That is the only place they need to look for help. But they can also count on some, few as they are, faithful believers in the West -- believers who are standing with them, encouraging them, supporting them, and most importantly, praying for them.
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Professor demands students stomp on Jesus
As WND previously reported, the professor who gave the assignment, Deandre Poole, turns out also to be the vice-chairman of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party. Poole ignited outrage across the U.S. for requiring students to write "Jesus" on a piece of paper, then put it on the floor and stomp on it. But Ryan Rotela, a junior from Coral Springs, Fla., said while some of his classmates complied with the assignment, he refused. "Anytime you stomp on something it shows that you believe that something has no value. So if you were to stomp on the word Jesus, it says that the word has no value," he told the local CBS TV affiliate WPEC.
The Boston Massacre on Patriots Day
Authorities ID suspect as Saudi national in marathon bombings, under guard at Boston hospital
NT Post ^ | 4/15/13 Posted on Monday, April 15, 2013 3:48:27 PM by Kartographer
Authorities have confirmed to The Post that they have identified a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. The suspect — a Saudi national who suffered shrapnel wounds in today's blast — is currently being guarded in a Boston hospital. A law enforcement source confirmed to The Post that 12 people were killed and nearly 50 were injured in today's blast.
WE IGNORE THE SUFFERING OF ARAMAIC AND COPTIC CHRISTIANS AT THE HANDS OF MUSLIM RADICALS-but now its our problem too.
These attacks happen because we do not take the threat of radical Islam seriously enough. We rejected security first candidates such as Bush and McCain and have a weak appeaser-and closet Muslim running the country. This has consequences.