Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Strange Gods

Up until about 200-years ago there was, in India, a very small group of Hindus, called Thuggee, whose worship of the goddess Kali involved their going out on the roads of that land, infiltrating the trust of groups of travelers and then murdering them. This for the greater glory of Kali---And such loot as they could, thereby, acquire. (The British government of India suppress this sect, hanging many of its members, and developed such railroads and road-patrols which made those murders much more difficult.)

About 1400-years ago, an Arab named Mohammed invented an ideology called Islam which commanded that there was a perpetual state-of-war between its followers and all other peoples until they “submitted”. The payback for its aggressive and forced domination of those others was seized property, the sexual use of female captives and the ability to demonstrate the most murderous of behaviors as approved by their society. Those behaviors still continue today in such places as The Sudan and are threats in many other places as the United Kingdom and most of Europe.

About 150-years ago the development of (Atheist) Communism began. It also developed into a forced ideology yielding the murder of millions throughout the world, the robbery of their property and, without surprise, the concentration of power and property into the hands of such as Joseph Stalin and his higher leadership. (This ideology could, in fact, be even considered a “religion” as it is based on the “theological” premise that there is no God or gods.)

The more recent history of the Nazi and Fascist movements, with like murderous and robbing characteristics, is/should-be well known to all. The cost of them, over a very few years, was 20,000,000-plus killed and suffering beyond calculation (Yet, smaller than the absolute cost of Atheist Communism or proportionally less than that charged to Islam.)

Even more recently, the “secular humanist” or “secular progressive” movements have promoted the murder of the most innocent of creations, unborn human children, and the weakest of us, the elderly or very infirm who are being put-to-death by physicians in more and more lands because they are a “burden”. These movements use the power of the armed state to enforce their actions (A good reason to maintain a well armed citizenry).

WHAT IS COMMON TO ALL OF THE ABOVE MOVEMENTS? I think all can see that such are all related by a worship-of-death, use of force to overcome resistance and a total disregard for the humanity of humans!

I have elected to worship Jesus Christ whose message is for life, voluntary sharing of wealth, joy and kindness. Even if I worshiped my Slavic ancestors' god Perkun, it would be at a lower cost in evil than the various and murderous ideologies described above.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Yes--Evil Exists

30 October 2006

This last Sunday my pastor preached as to vision---Noting the slow failure of physical sight with age and the need to develop spiritual vision over our lives. He noted that when we open our spiritual eyes we should see good in those about us---Even if they were, as The Christ forgave, those who did not know what they were doing as they crucified Him.

Yes---There is much good and beauty in our physical and spiritual worlds; Which we should easily recognized and strongly acknowledge. The old Navajo prayer may say much about that: “Beauty before me; Beauty behind; Beauty above and below me; Beauty all about me”.

Yet---I cannot share my pastor's Franciscan and rose-colored view of the world and some of its people. Beyond carelessness, beyond ignorance, beyond just plain stupidity and disregard of others, THERE IS EVIL! There are the Adolf Hitlers, the Pol Pots, the Molly Yards, the Joseph Stalins, the Charles Mansons, the banal evil of Adolf Eichmann and others of their ilk.

The requirement of sound spiritual vision requires the ability to discern evil in people and their words and actions.

Perhaps, based on words and 1400-years of history to this very day, the classic example of a evil person is that liar, false-prophet, murderer and sexual pervert Mohammed, who claimed that his convenient-to-himself teachings came from the Creator. They have been proved to be the basis of a criminal ideology based on rape, murder, revenge, genocide, robbery, lies and the destruction of real religions and civilized cultures.

The present age has produced its like examples of the worship-of-death (Especially as to abortion), the opposition to other points-of-view and like errors in what is becoming known as “Secular Humanism” or “Secular Progressiveness”.

The discernment of evil requires the supporter of what is good and beautiful to take such actions, as forceful and violent as is necessary, to crush, burn out and destroy what is evil.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Reflection On All Saints' Eve

At my parish's 2005 All Saints' Day mass my pastor gave a homily in which the great saints of old were mentioned and the great numbers of such Holy Ones marching forward through time was presented to the people.

In my mind's eye, I found myself seeing many columns of God's saints marching behind their special patrons: All the brown-robed Franciscans and those of that persuasion behind St. Francis of Assisi and St. Claire of that same town; Dominicans and many saintly scholars behind St. Dominic, St. Thomas of Aquino and St. Albert the Great; Those attorneys who, somehow, have become saints behind St. Thomas More; All good pastors (Including our beloved John Paul II) behind his countryman St. John Kanty; And, so forth---Each behind her or his leader in the march to glory.

As for myself, I hope to someday (If that term has any meaning in eternity) take my very, very, humble place behind St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Doctor of the Church and author of De Laude Novae Militae). My view of his column of saints puts the Knights of The Temple (Knights Templar), with their swords used and bloody wounds suffered in the defense of the Holy Land against the followers of that false prophet Mohammed, first behind him. Following them are such as: The Spanish Crusaders who drove those Muslims out of Iberia; King Jan of Poland and all the Poles who suffered, died and yet were victorious at the gates of Vienna and many other places against the Muslim-Turkish hordes; Don Juan of Austria and all of the brave seamen who sent the Turkish fleet to the deeps in defense of Christianity and true Civilization; And, the true Crusaders of today who battle the false, Muslim, prophet Osama bin Laden and his ilk throughout the world.

We should not forget the other false prophets such as the: “Three Emperor Gang” of World War I; The Nazi and Imperial Japan & foolish Italy of World War II; And the atheist communist and very false leaders, Lenin, Stalin Pol Pot, Mao and all of that evil lot. In defense of my nation, Christianity and Civilization I I did serve for three years in the US Navy, this being my only claim to be a follower of St. Bernard and his holy warriors---Among which are those who suffered and died at such places as Flanders' fields, the Bataan Death March, Normandy's beaches and hedgerows, upon and under the the too-hot and too-cold mountains of Korea, the streets of Baghdad, the jungles of Viet Nam and all the other places where evil is confronted, by true knights, throughout history and the world.

TO THOSE WHO MAINTIAIN THAT THERE ARE NOT JUST WARS AND THAT THE BATTLES FOUGHT, EVEN TODAY. AGAINST THE FOLLOWS OF SUCH FALSE PROPHETS AS MOHAMMED AND OSAMA BIN LADEN ARE NOT JUST WARS WILL BE UNLIKELY TO BE AMONG THE FOLLOWER OF ST. BERNARD ON THE ROAD TO GLORY---OR OF ANY OTHER IN THAT GRAND PROCESSION OF THOSE WHO DEFEND TRUTH AGAINST LIES AND GOOD AGAINST EVIL.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Struggle

I was reminded today that Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf means "My Struggle" and Mohammed's Jihad is said to mean "struggle".

I am also reminded that Islam and Nazism both: Worshiped death; Used murderous thugs to suppress opposition; Preached extermination of the Jews; Attempted to destroy all other "religions" except their own; Treat women as breeding animals rather that Children-of-God; Burnt those books and "suppressed" those teachers who varied from Islamic or Nazi "orthodoxy"; And, too many other parallels to ignore.

Perhaps, we should respond to Islam as we did to Hitler's movement!

Monday, October 09, 2006

Thou Shall Not MURDER !

THIS IS OFFERED FOR THE SERIOUS SCHOLAR AS WELL AS TO USE WHEN CONFRONTING "PC" OPPONENTS OF JUST WAR, SELF-DEFENSE AND LIKE MATTERS.

The Sixth Commandment and PC

James Arlandson today takes on the verse about Jesus and the sword, so I would like to take up a biblical verse of my own: the Sixth Commandment.

One of the oldest pieces of political correctness, still spun today, is the King James Bible translation of sixth of the Ten Commandments as “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” In fact, the correct translation of the passage is “Thou Shalt Not Murder.”

The Illustrated Jerusalem Bible Hebrew-English, on page 166, has for the Sixth Commandment, in Exodus 20:13, “Lo Tirsach” (imperative case: “No Kill”, Hebrew using fewer words to express thoughts than does English). This is from the verb “lirtzach,” to murder (infinitive) or “rotzach” (1st-3rd person singular), although the English translation in this Old Testament is “Thou Shalt Not Kill. It is not thou shall not kill (harog=kill, 1st-3rd person singular in Hebrew).

If you go to the Judaism 101 website, it states the Sixth Commandment as Thou Shall Not Murder. The Signet Hebrew/English English/Hebrew Dictionary also documents that the Sixth Commandment is linguistically connected for the verb for murder (p.213), not killing (p. 182).

So why am I making this big to-do? Because so many left wing churches or synagogues – and many of the mainstream ones – wag their fingers at anyone who mortally fights to protect their home from criminals, or their country from terrorist. Even uniformed soldiers in a just war are criticized as being morally wrong because this could lead to killing, which King James and his translators have spun into a way of demonizing assertive self-defense.

Self-defense is legal under both English Common Law and Judaism – and I suspect Christian Law (otherwise it would not be English Common Law). The Politically Correct – and the Islamists – make full use of this brainwashing by religious pacifists.

And we have this from Christian Homesite.com.

“The sixth of the ten commandments reads, Thou shall not kill. The New International Version translates it, Thou shall not murder. This is more accurate because the Hebrew word so translated does not refer to killing in general but to malicious and unlawful killing.”

Then we have this from Biblestudy.org

Q. I am studying the 10 commandments. Please explain the Sixth commandment “thou shall not kill.”

A. The commandment “thou shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17), is better understood to mean “you shall not murder,” most modern translations of the Bible rendered it this way. According to the Bible not all killing, the taking of a life, is murder. Murder is the unlawfully taking of human life. The command not to murder applies to human beings, not to killing animals or plant life for food. God gave animals to mankind for his use (Genesis 1:26-30; 9:1-4). But, this does not mean that humans have the right mistreat animals and the environment (Genesis 2:15; Deuteronomy 22:6-7; 25:4; Proverbs 12:10). Under the Old Covenant God allowed the Israelites to kill other humans under very special circumstances such as punishment for certain sins, for example, murder (Exodus 21:12-14, Leviticus 24:17, 21) and adultery (Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 22:22-24). God also allowed the Israelites to engage in warfare and even gave them instructions about waging war (Deuteronomy 20:1-20). God also recognized that humans might accidentally kill each other, and he made provisions for this (Numbers 35:9-34; Deuteronomy 19:1-13).

Jack Kemp (not the politician) 10 08 06

Update: 10 09 06 James Arlandson responds:

Greetings, Mr. Kemp. It seems I did not make myself clear. My goal was a narrow focus, to interpret Matthew 10:34 accurately. Just because this verse does not permit a physical use of a sword does not mean that the New Testament teaches pacifism. This is a complicated topic, but the short version may be tried here. First, Jesus and the New Testament authors separate off the kingdom of God from the kingdom of Caesar. We see this in such verses as “Render to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” Also, according to the Gospel of John, during Jesus’ arrest and his trial before Pontiuus Pilate, the accused said: “My kingdom is not of this world, if it were my servants would fight for me.” There are more, but I’ll let it go at that. Second, the Church-as the Churchmust never wage war on people. Its mission is to save and rescue them, not kill them. I could go on and cite verses about how the early Church chose the path of peace, following the path of their Lord, but that would take too much space. I will instead refer you to 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, in which Pauloften persecuted and imprisoned (falsely)says explicitly that he does not fight with worldly weapons, but with divine weaponsmoral and spiritual and verbal ones that knock down false ideas. Third, the problem with church history is that the leaders did not make the distinction between the Church and the kingdom of Caesar, and neither did the kings of Europe. If the church needed help militarily, then it should have asked the governments in “Christendom” for help. Church leaders indeed did this, but too often the Church and State were fused together back in the day. Fourth, I believe the Founders of our own nation saw the distinction between the Church and the State. They got that principle from hard-learned lessons in Europe, when the Church, even the Protestants, persecuted people (Test Acts and all that), and from Scripture. That’s why we enjoy religious freedom, thankfully. Fifth, the New Testament is not entirely pacifist (and therefore, neither am I, incidentally). But the New Testament authors gives the authority to wield the sword to the State, not the Church itself. To repeat, the Churchas an insititutionis not called to the sword, but it recognizes that the kingdom of Caesar, so to speak, has God-given authority to bring order. Here is Romans 13:1-4: 1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Sixth, this verse says the “servant” or “law enforcement” is ordained of God, and by extension, so is the military, if I read those verses aright. Therefore, a Christian may join the police force or military, if he wants. He will be considered God’s servant (Rom. 13:4). To me, he or she has a noble profession, and Christians outside of these two institutions should support them. But Christan soldiers and police officers must follow justice and mercy, since they serve a just and merciful God. Seventh, and finally, we live in a government system that permits a redress of grievances. If we don’t like a policy, we can run for office, email our congressperson or state representative, or appear at city hall and speak at the city council. This is not considered rebellion (see Rom. 13:2). Therefore, if the military or law enforcement has an unjust policy here in the US and abroad, we may appeal to the authorities to seek a change. I hope this clarifies matters. Matthew 10:34 has been wrenched out of context so often on the web that I had to clarify it, and I hope I did. But the entire New Testament is not pacifist, once force of arms is placed in the right institution-the State. Sincerely, Jim Arlandson

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Three Trees & A Parasite

Three trees of thought grew out of the rocky soil of the Middle East: Judaism; Christianity; And, Islam. All of them were transplanted throughout the world and have survived and grown. All three claim to have been founded upon the examples and teachings of Abraham, Moses and the other prophets. All have their other OR supplementary “holy books”. All have some history of the use of military or other force in their grown.

But, there are very major differences in those “trees” and where they grew, how they grow and what “fruits” they produced.

The first “tree”, Judaism, never grew very large or tall; Yet, became very tough in the face of many storms and near extinctions. Is such places as Saudi Arabia, where it once thrived, it was made extinct by those who hated those who sheltered in its shade and ate of its fruits. What are those fruits? The voluntary love of G_d by those who have elected to be selected AND to enter into an agreement (Covenant) with the Creator , knowing both His power and their own worth as His creations and children. Other fruits include, but are not limited, to: A love of learning and of words for their own sake as well as for proper worship; Commitment to reasoned thought; Kindness towards both the family (Especially women and children) and strangers; And, a basic dislike of slavery.

In due time and nearby, grew another tree (To some of us, a child of the first tree) called Christianity. That tree grew very fast, spread very far and was suppressed only in a very few places (eg Saudi Arabia and other Islamic lands). For the most part it grew by loving word and example (Although there were some who forced its growth by arms). It provided to its followers a great love of the Creator as Father and Brother based on both respect and a sure knowledge of the worth of being human. It demonstrated a very un-human reluctance to use force, especially deadly force, except in reaction to the greatest of attacks (eg Three centuries of growing Muslim attacks on the rights of Christians to worship where and how they pleased; The genocidal imperialism of Nazi Germany and the “Imperial Way Japan”). Although many failed to follow Christ in this area, they were and are always (In due time) corrected or condemned for such failings.
From a bloody, sacrificial, tree this Christianity grew to include great forests which sheltered other, and lesser, trees without doing violence to them as it grew stronger, mature and more fruitful. What fruits? Those which allow humans to, within the limits of their minds, to know, understand and love God by not just worship and adoration; But, through knowledge---AND, to know all of his creations by the same use of free intellect. This is the true base of “science”, philosophy, art, music and even mathematics. This is also the base of the universities which so enrich Western Civilization, with their very Catholic foundations, and are NOT to be found (Except as transplanted) in other parts of the world.
The giving of goods and services to assist others, without regard to their beliefs and only towards their needs (As in the many millions of dollars so freely given to Muslims in Indonesia and other places after the great tsunami of recent memory.) and without preconditions of “conversion” as demanded by others is only one example of this fruit.

Near (But, not too near) to the above two trees grew a like (But, not too like) tree. Its wood was-and-is too dry and brittle to be flexible, without much juice (And, that of a basically toxic nature); But, with the proven ability to grow very quickly when watered by blood and transplanted into other groves cut down by swords. That untrue tree is Islam.
The poisoned nature of that growth condemned to failure any attempts to graft on to it the wisdom of Pre-Islamic Indian, Persian, Egyptian and other cultures, as well as the fruits of the trees of the Christian forests and Jewish groves. Although, some of those grafts produced “good fruit” for a short time, they eventually withered and died---Leaving only dryness and emptiness behind.
The basic and toxic fruits of Islam are those of murder, revenge, rape, genocide, robbery and the destruction of other “trees”. Like other illicit drugs, this toxicity can and has been VERY intoxicating over the last 1400-years to those who become so addicted. It also yields individual and group paranoia and other forms of mental defect-and-disease: Including an inability to interact with other beings (Human or Divine) beyond the level of submission to that horrid addiction.

Of course, the dryness and toxicity of Islam does protect it from a much too common parasite which has attacked the other two “trees”; Being, “Secular Humanism” (Hereafter referred to as SH).

SH has attached itself, like a bark and heartwood destroying fungus, to Christianity and Judaism. It lives on the strength, built up over centuries, of those healthy organisms--without contributing to the growth needed for this and future generations. When this infection becomes general, it threatens the life of those civilization-trees: Which can be best observed in Western Europe and in universities everywhere.
The pseudo-fruits of SH are attractive outwardly, but poisoned within (Like the apples of the witch in Snow White). The full and technical names of those corruptions are:
1.“Academic-freedom-without-academic-discipline/knowledge”;
2.“Personal-freedom-from-personal/social-responsibility”;
3.“Freedom-from-both-good-and-evil—AND-any-standards”; And,
4.Others of that toxic “fruit basket”.

It is, I think, somewhat past the time to take out the fungus killing chemicals, the saws and brush knives and clean up our world's forests and groves: Destroying parasites and other harmful organisms---Without killing or stunting the life-giving trees of Christianity and Judaism and the non-toxic plants they may shelter.