Osama bin Laden had money, a name, and a certain amount of charisma. But Al Qaeda’s successes had at best a limited amount to do with him, as opposed to the more experienced and pragmatic terrorist leaders. And by this point, he had long since become irrelevant, harbored by Pakistan, too dangerous to keep, too dangerous to get rid of, until Obama decided that he could get reelected by arresting Osama and putting him on trial. The men on the ground had other ideas and the rest is history.
But Osama had his own stupid plan for bringing America to its knees. Kill Obama.
Osama bin Laden wanted to assassinate then-President Barack Obama so that the “totally unprepared” Joe Biden would take over as president and plunge the United States “into a crisis,” according to documents seized from bin Laden’s Pakistan compound when he was killed in May 2011.
The secretive documents, first reported in 2012 by The Washington Post, outlined a plan to take out Obama and top U.S. military commander David Petraeus as they traveled by plane.
“The reason for concentrating on them is that Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make [Vice President] Biden take over the presidency,” bin Laden wrote to a top deputy. “Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the U.S. into a crisis.”
As opposed to Obama, who was really prepared.
Then again, Osama was getting his info on American politics from Michael Moore.
Sure having Biden take over would wreck the country, but a lot less so than Obama had. Unless Osama had a plan to get Carter back into office, that probably wasn’t happening.
Intelligence officials told the Post that bin Laden’s plan never progressed past the aspirational stage.
True of all his plans at that date, except his plan to listen to bad music and get shot by the infidels.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2020-04-25 05:22:552020-04-25 05:23:35Osama bin Laden’s Plan for Destroying America: Make Joe Biden President
If you’re surprised, maybe you’ve been asleep for the last 20 years.
“New York mosque still open for daily prayers while churches across the country face mandatory shutdowns,” by Paul Shiver, The Blaze, April 20, 2020:
A mosque in New York is reportedly still open for daily prayers amid the coronavirus pandemic that has forced Christian churches across the country to close their doors and cancel their in-person gatherings.
While churchgoers in many states have been criticized and even punished for continuing to gather, that same level of scrutiny has apparently not been leveled at the Mosque of Jesus, Son of Mary in Syracuse, New York.
What are the details?
Despite the state’s executive order, which broadly bans all “non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason,” neighborhood Muslims are still allowed gather together in the mosque’s prayer room for calls to prayer throughout the week.
“About 10 worshippers in masks are allowed in at a time, though rarely do that many show up. They stand far apart from each other as they follow a prayer leader standing on a plastic-covered prayer rug,” a Syracuse.com report notes. (Though in a video of one of the prayers, it appears that the worshippers are not at least 6 feet away, as the Centers for Disease Control recommends).
While it should be noted that the mosque has gone to great lengths to limit attendees’ exposure to the virus by covering the prayer room in plastic and installing a special ventilation system, it is unclear as to how that exempts the mosque from the government mandate.
Yet instead of facing criticism for continuing to gather, the mosque was commended by the news outlet for its efforts to “keep the faith” during the pandemic, especially as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan approaches….
Over the past few weeks, churchgoers in many states have been prohibited from gathering and, in many cases, have been punished for doing so despite government orders.
In Mississippi, some churchgoers received $500 fines for sitting in their vehicles in a church parking lot listening to a radio broadcast of the service. In Kentucky, nails were allegedly scattered at the parking lot entrances to prevent people from attending the Easter service. A northern California county even outlawed singing during church livestreams unless people are in a home.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio threatened to “permanently” shut down churches and synagogues if they refused to comply with the government’s shelter-in-place order….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2020-04-23 06:41:152020-04-23 06:43:59VIDEO: New York mosque still open for daily prayers while churches across the US face mandatory shutdowns
Helen Freeh: Sooner or later we must restart American commerce, and Catholic leaders need to avoid casting the decision to do so as a choice between God and mammon.
Michael Pakaluk recently argued on this site that the dichotomy between life and money is false. The Holy Father in his Easter Monday homily, however, set up just that conflict, stating, “in finding solutions to this pandemic, the choice will be between life, the resurrection of the people, and the god of money.” Pope Francis developed this view further along the same line, “If you choose money, you choose the way of hunger, slavery, wars, arms factories, uneducated children. . . . help us to choose the good of the people, without ever falling into the tomb of mammon.”
This is troubling talk even if it is meant sincerely to be pastoral guidance. But Pope Francis’s good intentions here may require further reflection.
I am not an economist or a moral theologian. So, I speak now from Catholic common sense in responding to this. Certainly, we live in a materialistic culture in which we witness unbridled greed and lust for money, which comes at great cost to authentic human life. It is right and proper to call people from the false pursuit of happiness through money to the truth of our existence as sons and daughters of God, recipients and caretakers of our Father’s bounty.
To establish, as a general rule, a conflict between the making of money and the respect for life, however, is both false and dangerous. Extremes exist and sinful pursuits of money are easily found. But God has established it as part of our human condition that work, even work undertaken for the sake of making money and providing for one’s own needs and those of others, is intimately connected with life and happiness.
Even a cursory knowledge of Catholic teaching on the dignity of work shows that while the economy must serve human life, it also allows human life to be dignified. As Pope Francis himself stated in Laudato Si, “Work is a necessity, part of the meaning of life on this earth, a path to growth, human development and personal fulfillment. Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs. The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work.”
To suggest, then, that governments, in considering whether and when to re-open economies, are choosing between life and money, as if they are necessarily opposed to each other, severs the connection between the two – a connection that is not by nature evil. It may be good or bad depending on whether the good of human life remains the central focus of the economic endeavor.
The decision is extremely complicated: our government leaders must weigh the harm that is being done and will be done based on their decisions. Restarting the economy has consequences for human life – so, too, does not restarting the economy. The choice does not reduce simply to financial matters.
Catholic moral teaching has a term called the “principle of double effect,” which may help us in our current thinking on the coronavirus and our government leaders’ decisions. The principle states that in a difficult decision, if two effects may result, one bad and one good, the decision is morally permissible if four conditions are met:
the act itself must be morally good or neutral;
the harmful side effect is not the primary aim of the action to bring about good;
the primary good effect must directly come from the act; and
there must be a sufficiently serious reason for permitting the evil that also will result.
Our government suspended most of our civil and religious liberties for the good of preserving life through slowing the spread of a highly infectious coronavirus. Yet now our leaders must make the decision of when to allow people to leave their homes, to travel, to pray together in our respective houses of worship, and to work.
Currently, we are intentionally doing harm to all out of a fear that death may come to some. In restarting the economy, more lives may well be at risk from coronavirus and more people may die from this one disease. And yet, the human cost will also be great in continuing to suppress our economic life.
Consider for example the effects of loss of livelihood on individuals and families; increased child and spousal abuse; increased rates of suicide and substance abuse; lack of treatment and facilities for mental health; postponement of surgeries for cancer, heart disease, joint replacements, et. al.
The list is long and people who study such problems estimate that there are thousands of deaths per year for every 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate. That rate has grown roughly 15 percent since the shutdown – which gives us a rough sense of what it would mean not to begin opening up commerce again.
So the magnitude of this decision is very great and ought not be reduced to a simplistic formula of life versus money. The political decision is difficult enough and our Catholic leadership, among other voices, exacerbates the problem by making it an either/or moral dynamic.
Far from taking the lead in expressing clearly the Church’s long understanding of the central importance of economic life, the Catholic hierarchy has not even responded very forcefully to the state-designated role of religious worship as non-essential. One hopes the American bishops will not embarrass themselves and the faithful further by adopting this false dichotomy between life and livelihood.
Helen Freeh
Dr. Helen Freeh received her B.A. and M. A. from the University of Dallas and her Ph.D. from Baylor University. She has taught at Hillsdale College, where she met her husband, John. She is now in temporary early retirement, raising and homeschooling their children in Lincoln, Nebraska.
I was asked to write this piece for the annual remembrance of the Holocaust, where more than six million people of the Jewish faith were murdered during World War Two by the Nazi Germany leadership and its military.
This presents a challenge for this chaplain for a couple of reasons. First, I am a Christian, and although I am quite fond of the Jewish roots of Christianity, I am not Jewish. I have friends and family that are Jewish, I have been to synagogue services a few times, and I have been acquainted with a few Rabbi’s over the years; but again, I am not Jewish. This means that the best I can do is to be academically honest and spiritually sound to the best of my abilities in this endeavor.
Second, prior to becoming a chaplain, I spent the majority of my adult life as a member of the military and law enforcement communities; having retired from each of those vocations. My traditional “baby boomer” upbringing, compounded by my career choices, mean that I have the strong belief in equal protection and equal responsibilities under the law.
The atrocities committed during the Holocaust are almost unfathomable to me. Almost, because I have seen what human beings are capable of doing to each other up close and personal; and I have studied my history, and I know these events happened as I have talked to survivors of that time. This is why it is so important that we remember such things. So they never happen again.
Having said all that, let me share some of the history of the remembrance’s origins.
“Establishment of the Holiday (1) – The full name of the day commemorating the victims of the Holocaust is “Yom HaShoah Ve-Hagevurah”— in Hebrew literally translated as the “Day of (remembrance of) the Holocaust and the Heroism.”
It is marked on the 27th day in the month of Nisan — a week after the end of the Passover holiday and a week before Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers). It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
The date was selected in a resolution passed by Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset, on April 12, 1951. Although the date was established by the Israeli government, it has become a day commemorated by Jewish communities and individuals worldwide.
The day’s official name – Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day – was made formal in a law enacted by the Knesset on August 19, 1953; on March 4, 1959, the Knesset passed another law which determined that tribute to victims of the Holocaust and ghetto uprisings be paid in public observances.” – courtesy of the Jewish Virtual Library.
The encyclopedias Brittanica and Wikipedia also go into some depth about the related observances (one is called Purim – which remembers a similar situation of the Jewish people from the 5th Century B.C.).
What observances should we be doing on this day?
According to the Jewish Virtual Library article cited above, each congregation essentially creates their own remembrance service. Some gather and sing music, others light candles, some read the names of family or congregation members lost; and in years past, some services have read through the entire list of six million plus names.
For 2020, and with a worldwide health challenge at hand, remembrance services in Israel have become creative. According to the English speaking news outlets HAARETZ (4) and the Jerusalem Post (5), public gatherings are still not allowed in Israel because of the COVID-19 situation; so, the people of Israel have created a movement to go out on their porches one evening and light a candle and sing all at the same time, as well as joining together for a virtual “March of the Living”.
So, what does this mean going forward twenty years into the 21st century, and more than seventy-five years since the end of the second world war?
With some insight from another person of faith, this caused me to re-examine Isaiah chapters 55 and 60; which in short state that God’s got this, get back up and to quit feeling sorry for ourselves.
It means that we should not forget our history, less we repeat it; and no, I am not the first person to have said something to that effect. As best as I can research, that citation can best be attributed to one of two people. Either back to Sir Edmund Burke (8), an Irish statesmen and philosopher, who is also credited with the phrase “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”; or to Spanish philosopher George Santayana.
However, from a faith perspective, it means we should not lose hope. Even when it appears that the ghosts of the past are lurking in the shadows of the present. In the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible (what Christians refer to as the Old Testament), there is peace to be found in Psalm 23, and there are blessings in both Psalm 91, and in Numbers 6:22-27.
Please do not fret too much. Should we as a society pay attention to current events?
Absolutely. Should we panic? No! Remember that in the Tanakh alone, the phrase “fear not” appears at least forty times. If God put something in there that many times, maybe we should pay attention to it.
Remember, there is also the promise of hope and the promise God’s love in the following of His plan for our lives found in Ecclesiastes 4, Isaiah 40, and Jeremiah 29. Never forget that.
In closing, this is my prayer for each of you reading:
Almighty God, may You bring healing, peace and comfort to all of those reading this and to their loved ones as well, and all those affected by this worldwide health crisis. May
You watch out over those that are deemed essential and placing themselves in harms way to facilitate our response and recovery. Bring them safely back to their families. Please
watch out over our public officials, both elected and appointed. Give them the courage, wisdom, patience and love to complete their assignments both honorably and according
to Your will. We thank You for our blessings, and we ask that You forgive all of our mistakes; in Your precious name we pray. Amen.
Remember, God loves you. All you have to do, is love Him back.
A federal judge blocked Kansas from limiting attendance at religious services during the coronavirus pandemic Saturday.
Wichita U.S. District Judge John Broomes blocked an order from Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, limiting attendance at religious services to 10 people or fewer.
Broomes’ ruling prevents Kelly’s enforcement of the order as long as pastors and congregations observe social distancing, Politico reports. The decision will remain in effect until May 2.
“Churches and religious activities appear to have been singled out among essential functions for stricter treatment,” the judge wrote in his order.
“This is not about religion,” the Kansas governor said in a statement following the decision. “This is about a public health crisis.”
During this sacred week for many Americans, AG Barr is monitoring govt regulation of religious services. While social distancing policies are appropriate during this emergency, they must be applied evenhandedly & not single out religious orgs. Expect action from DOJ next week!
The judge’s order still requires religious services to abide by social distancing recommendations, such as requiring people to stay 6 feet apart. Broomes also has a hearing scheduled for Thursday regarding a lawsuit filed by two churches and their pastors against Kelly, Politico reports.
News of Broomes’ ruling comes after Attorney General William Barr released a statement on religious practices and social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic saying that “even in times of emergency,” federal law prohibits religious discrimination.
“Thus, government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity,” Barr said.
“For example, if a government allows movie theaters, restaurants, concert halls, and other comparable places of assembly to remain open and unrestricted, it may not order houses of worship to close, limit their congregation size, or otherwise impede religious gatherings.”
He added: “Religious institutions must not be singled out for special burdens.”
Where states have not acted evenhandedly, they must have compelling reason to impose restrictions on places of worship, the attorney general said. They also must ensure that the restrictions are “narrowly tailored to advance its compelling interest.”
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Daily Callerhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Caller2020-04-21 07:50:522020-04-21 07:54:38Judge Blocks Kansas From Limiting Attendance at Religious Services
This video is brought to you by a Freedom Center-Glazov Gang collaboration on a new exclusive webinar series, Teach-Ins for the Twenty-First Century. Join us as some of the leading thinkers and pundits on the scene today discuss key issues related to the coronavirus pandemic and its ongoing implications, confronting the Left, the jihad terror threat, and much, much more. And make sure to ask your own questions of our experts.
If Biden said he was honored to receive the endorsement of a group that is opposed to jihad violence and Sharia oppression, he would pay a huge political price. But no one will take any particular notice of this.
“Soros-Funded Muslim Group Associated With Homophobia, Terrorist Defenders Endorses Biden,” by Joe Schoffstall, Washington Free Beacon, April 18, 2020 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):” Joe Schoffstall –
A George Soros-backed Muslim group, which cohosts a conference that in recent years drew speakers who called homosexuality a “disease” and defended terrorist groups, announced its endorsement of Joe Biden for president.
Emgage, which bills itself as the largest Muslim PAC in the country, on Thursday announced it would switch its endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) to Biden. The group cited Biden’s promises to end President Donald Trump’s travel bans, increase the refugee admissions cap, and overhaul the immigration system. Biden said he was “honored” to receive the endorsement.
Emgage has collaborated with a Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated group on events that in recent years attracted speakers who openly opposed LGBT rights and supported terror groups. Last year, Emgage became an official cohost of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) conferences. ISNA was previously revealed to be part of the Muslim Brotherhood network—though it claims it is no longer associated with the group.
The 2018 ISNA conference featured an array of homophobic speakers. One was Omar Suleiman, an imam who has called homosexuality a “disease” that will “destroy your children.” Another, former ISNA president Muzammil Siddiqi, said he “supported laws in countries where homosexuality is punishable by death.” Imam Shamsi Ali, an attendee who was described as a “moderate” on ISNA’s website, has stated that homosexuality is an “unbearable plague.”
Meanwhile, ISNA has disinvited pro-LGBT groups Muslims for Progressive Values and the Human Rights Campaign, because they “don’t fit in.”
The 2018 conference also featured individuals who have come to the defense of terrorist organizations. One speaker, Council on American-Islamic Relations executive Zahra Billoo, has regularly defended Hamas and refers to Israel as an “apartheid state.”
Khalid Griggs, who spoke on a panel with Billoo, has referred to al Qaeda as the “presumed perpetrators” of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and said the U.S. government used the tragedy to wage war on “legitimate resistance fighters” in the Middle East. Griggs previously launched a petition calling on the Obama administration to pardon former Black Panther Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, better known as H. Rap Brown. Brown is serving a life sentence as a convicted cop killer.
Also included in that year’s speaker lineup was Suhaib Webb, a Boston-based imam who held a fundraiser for Brown’s criminal defense fund. Webb hosted the event with Anwar al-Awlaki, an imam who preached to two of the 9/11 hijackers, joined al Qaeda, and was eventually killed in a drone strike.
Anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour, who in 2004 called for a violent “intifada” in the United States, also spoke on a panel at the conference. During the panel Sarsour warned against “humanizing” Israelis, according to audio published by the Algemeiner. Hatem Bazian, head of American Muslims for Palestine, the agent of which has defended terrorists in court, was on the panel with Sarsour….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2020-04-20 08:04:202020-04-20 08:07:09Soros-funded Muslim group associated with Muslim Brotherhood – linked defenders of jihad terror – endorses Biden
“In November 2019, prosecutors said that El Hannouny slashed the tires of 19 cars in the parking lots of the First Baptist and Sts. Helen and Constantine churches. Upon his arrest, he told authorities that he damaged the cars because, “I don’t like Christians,” according to police. Hate crime charges were added in January, and he was released on a $10,000 I-bond with electronic monitoring.”
We see how well that worked. Officials did not and would never dare to address the root causes of El-Hannouny’s hatred, and so he was free to act upon it again. When arrested this time, he didn’t show any sign of remorse: “While El Hannouny was being processed, police said he started spitting at officers, reports said. El Hannouny also wrote a religious slur on the wall of his cell.” Yet he will soon be free again, and will almost certainly target yet another church.
“Man Accused of Trying To Burn Down Occupied Church,” by Lorraine Swanson, Patch, April 16, 2020 (thanks to the Geller Report):
PALOS HILLS, IL — A Palos Hills man already facing hate crime and criminal damage charges is now accused of trying to set fire to an occupied church, reports said. Osama E. El Hannouny, 25, appeared Wednesday before a Cook County judge on charges of arson, hate crimes, criminal damage to property, battery to a police officer and violation of bail bond.
In November 2019, prosecutors said that El Hannouny slashed the tires of 19 cars in the parking lots of the First Baptist and Sts. Helen and Constantine churches. Upon his arrest, he told authorities that he damaged the cars because, “I don’t like Christians,” according to police. Hate crime charges were added in January, and he was released on a $10,000 I-bond with electronic monitoring.
On April 14, police said El Hannouny used leaves to set fire to Sacred Heart Church, 8245 W. 111th St. According to the police report, El Hannouny was caught on video looking through the doors of the church building and noticing that it was occupied. Police said he made numerous trips to pile leaves near the gas main and air conditioning unit. El Hannouny allegedly set the leaves on fire, but firefighters quickly extinguished the flames.
While El Hannouny was being processed, police said he started spitting at officers, reports said. El Hannouny also wrote a religious slur on the wall of his cell, according to the report. El Hannouny allegedly scratched, bit and spit at police when they tried to stop him….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2020-04-19 07:27:272020-04-19 07:42:29Illinois: Muslim who slashed tires at churches and said ‘I don’t like Christians’ now tries to burn occupied church
Phillips said he has spent time personally studying Islam and believes that when a Muslim swears the oath to the Constitution using the Quran, that negates the constitutional law because they are “sworn to turn this country into an Islamic country.”
Hamas-linked CAIR has already weighed in, calling upon “state and national Republican Party leaders to repudiate the Islamophobic, unconstitutional statements” made by Phillips. That was to be expected, but Rick Phillips’ statement opens up a needed debate on the nature of Islam and the potential impact of jihad and Sharia upon America. The larger question Phillips poses is this: if the normative belief of any religion contradicts the American Constitution, and if a religious practice teaches the supremacy of that faith over America, and in fact views America as part of the House of War (dar al harb), is that religion protected under the American Constitution? In other words, does the Constitution allow for sedition and subversion as long as it is carried out under the auspices of a religion?
Rick Phillips is being attacked as an “Islamophobe,” but the questions he raises have too long been swept under the rug, and they require attention for the survival of America and its values. This does not mean that it is prudent to revoke the religious status of Islam altogether, but his recommendations should lead to further discussion about treason vis-a-vis the general understanding of religious freedom today, the activities of Muslim Brotherhood operatives, the imposition of the “Islamophobia” subterfuge, the tolerance of radical mosques, and much more.
“Republican in Iowa’s 2nd District primary calls for Islam’s religious status to be revoked,” by Ian Richardson, Des Moines Register, April 13, 2020:
A Republican candidate for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, whose platform calls for redefining Islam as “militant cultural imperialism seeking world domination,” drew fire Monday for saying he doesn’t believe Islam is protected under the First Amendment.
Pella Republican Rick Phillips told Quad Cities television station WHBF that he believes the founding fathers were specifically talking about Christianity and its denominations when they established the freedom of religion outlined in the Bill of Rights.
“They were not talking about anti-Christian beliefs,” he said. “Now, if a person doesn’t want to believe in Christ, that’s their business. But to say that this First Amendment right includes all religions in the world, I think, is erroneous.”
Reached by the Des Moines Register Monday afternoon, Phillips said he has spent time personally studying Islam and believes that when a Muslim swears the oath to the Constitution using the Quran, that negates the constitutional law because they are “sworn to turn this country into an Islamic country.”
He said former president Barack Obama brought several Muslims into the country and there has been an increasing number of mosques built since 9/11.
“All this is packaged as if it’s harmless, and stuff like that,” he said. “But I really see this as an invasion to install a caliphate — an Islamic form of government — here.”
Both the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group, and the Republican Party of Iowa have condemned Phillips’ remarks.
In a news release, Robert S. McCaw, director of government affairs for CAIR, called on state and national Republican Party leadership to “repudiate these Islamophobic, unconstitutional views.”
“The Constitution must protect Americans of all faiths,” he said. “The kind of hatred and anti-American views promoted by Mr. Phillips places in danger both constitutional protections of religious freedoms and the safety of ordinary American Muslims.”
Republican Party of Iowa spokesman Aaron Britt said in an email that Phillips’ comments “are not reflective of the views of the Republican Party of Iowa.”…
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2020-04-17 06:38:022020-04-17 06:41:34Iowa: Republican candidate calls for redefining Islam as ‘militant cultural imperialism seeking world domination’
There should not be two standards of justice in this nation—a slap on the wrist for the politically correct who do wrong, while Gen. Michael Flynn’s whole life has been upended for allegedly lying to the FBI.
Flynn has lost his house, livelihood, and reputation. Meanwhile, in contrast, there is a high ranking FBI attorney who allegedly doctored an email to obtain a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant for raw political sabotage, who has yet to be punished.
Last week, Senator Charles Grassley (R) Iowa declassified some footnotes to a Justice Department inspector general report on the whole Russian-Trump collusion allegation.
Of course, this whole mess began with a dossier written by former British spy Christopher Steele. He alleged that the Trump campaign secretly received help from Russia, so that Trump might become president. All of this has been investigated ad nauseam and found to be false.
Writing over the weekend an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (April 11-12, 2020), Sen. Ron Johnson, (R) Wisconsin, noted: “The Steele dossier already ranks as one of the dirtiest political tricks of all time.” The falsified Steele dossier became the pretext by which some FBI officials appear to have obtained FISA warrants.
How can this nation continue to have two standards of law and order? Two standards of judgment? Punishment of conservatives for alleged wrong-doing versus wrist-slapping of liberals for woeful violations of the law.
Consider the morality of this and then the legality.
High-ranking FBI officials allegedly lied to try to prevent a political opponent from winning the presidency. Then when he did win, they lied to derail his presidency.
Dr. Frank Wright, the president of D. James Kennedy Ministries, points out, “Lying has become so endemic in our time that many times when some politicians speak, it’s a given that some of what they say is not necessarily the truth—but rather it’s so-called spin. However, we’ve learned recently that there is serious deception among key government leaders—even in the FBI.”
Veteran journalist and author Robert Knight said to me in an interview for Christian television: “When I was growing up the FBI were the heroes….and now the FBI has grown into this enormous organization whose powers are far reaching, and whose powers could be abused if political partisans get a hold of it, which apparently is exactly what has happened.”
The Department of Justice is slowly examining some of the alleged crimes of bad actors, particularly in the FBI, but as of this writing, no concrete charges have been filed. The wheels of justice seem to be grinding awfully slow—and at least so far, in an unfair way—tilted to the ruling class.
Knight added, “I don’t recall anytime in American history where the FBI was used as a blunt political instrument. There’s a pattern of corruption here that’s far and deep. And Americans are wondering if anybody’s ever going to be punished for it.” Bob said these words in the summer of 2018. To my knowledge, no one involved on the left has yet been punished.
Jarrett Stepman of the Heritage Foundation comments: “It’s the idea that some men put themselves above the laws, and I think that’s what a lot of people see. Especially what happened with the FBI. Some agents thinking they had a right to try to overturn, essentially, the election by the American people.”
It’s against the Bible to have two separate standards of justice. And it’s against the Constitution.
In an interview for Christian television on the Judeo-Christian roots of America, Dr. Daniel Dreisbach of American University, outlined some of the ways the Bible influenced the U. S. Constitution. He told me, “Take, for example, something as simple as Article One, Section Eight, which authorizes Congress to ‘fix the standard of weights and measures.’”
Dreisbach continued, “Perhaps the greatest of the English Common Law Jurisprudence was a man by the name of Sir Edward Coke. He wrote a commentary on the Magna Charta. There’s a paragraph in Magna Charta, speaking to the necessity to fix standard weights and measures, and in his commentary, Sir Edward Coke, writing in the seventeenth century said, ‘This is an idea rooted in the Word of God.’” Indeed, we can read about this in the book of Proverbs
The idea of standard weights and measures implies that you would do the honest thing for all your customers. God is a God of justice, and He hates dishonest dealings—one standard for one person, but a different standard for someone else.
This country cannot have two standards of justice—one for the politically correct ruling class and another for the rest of us “deplorables.” It’s unconstitutional. And more importantly, it’s unbiblical.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jerry Newcombe, D. Min.http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJerry Newcombe, D. Min.2020-04-16 09:54:002020-04-16 09:54:00How Can We Have Two Systems of Justice in This Country?
You’ve heard the tragic stories of men, women, and children who have been abused and harmed by the current culture of rampant sexual exploitation.
But did you know that in these uncertain and confusing times of the COVID-19 pandemic gripping our nation and the larger global community, the threat of exploitation looms even larger?
I just heard a tragic story of a young boy who I will call Leo. That is not his real name but he and his story are very real. Leo was just 16-years-old when he was groomed and trafficked through what seemed like an innocent online video game system, one used by millions of American children. He wanted to connect with other players, and when the man who reached out to him acted like his friend, it seemed to both Leo and his parents to be just another way to talk to friends on the Internet.
But the reality was far worse! Men like Leo’s trafficker use and abuse mainstream platforms with children, like video games and other social media, in order to locate and abuse vulnerable victims.
When Leo decided to meet up with his online “friend,” traveling across state lines, he was shocked to discover the person on the other side of the screen was no friend, but rather a group of seven grown men who then trafficked and exploited the young boy.
Leo was used as a sex slave for over a year, trapped in a filthy trailer while the men spent their time trying to lure other victims. It wasn’t until another 17-year-old boy arrived, also groomed and lured through the video game platform, that Leo was finally released from his prison. The men were arrested for sex trafficking, but Leo’s life has been scarred forever from his experience.
It’s no secret or surprise that stories like Leo’s are happening all across the country. And thanks to supporters like you, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation has focused on the policies, education, and advocacy to bring awareness and solutions to these very issues.
We’ve even launched campaigns directly against the video game industry with Dirty Dozen List targets like Steam, the ultra-popular online gaming platform. Our wider #NotAGame project also targets sexual exploitation, violence, and abuse rampant in video games across all platforms.
These have been very successful projects in raising awareness, but tragedies like the one that happened to Leo are still occurring.
We know you care about not only helping boys like Leo as they recover from their abuse, but also about preventing future victims.
Our child protection projects urgently need funding right now not only because we are running short of cash for them but, as importantly, because these projects are gaining so much momentum. We are changing the big companies that rely on our children for their success by convincing them to beef up their child-protection measures. I’m talking about companies like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and others that millions of children access every day.
Will you help us stop this scourge of online danger with a monthly donation?
Every amount can be used to make a big difference right now. We’ll turn your monthly donation, whatever you can afford, into advocacy with legislators and corporate executives as well as a means for getting crucial information and resources into the hands of parents so they can protect their children.
With children online more than ever during this period of social isolation and distance, the threat of online sexual exploitation is more pressing now than ever.
Help prevent further boys like Leo by funding these projects today!
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00National Center on Sexual Exploitationhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngNational Center on Sexual Exploitation2020-04-15 07:33:272020-04-15 07:33:27Young Boy Groomed via Online Video Game System
So amidst all the precautions and closures and end-of-the-world-type hysteria, what have we learned, or what are we in fact learning?
Well, actually a lot. Much in fact is being exposed — really exposed — politically, culturally and ecclesiastically. Politically, however deep any of us thought the swamp was, we have learned that we were wrong. It’s actually much deeper than we ever thought.
The “Get Trump” brigades are out in full force, with the Marxist media trying anything they can related to tying Donald Trump to COVID-19. They are trying to dream up nicknames to pin the virus to Trump, calling it “CoronaTrump,” “VirusTrump,” and a bunch of other stupid monikers.
So far, none of them seem to be sticking. But it’s blindingly obvious why they are doing it — so when November comes around, Trump loses. They hate him for being pro-life and, in their incorrect view, they see him as stacking the courts to dump abortion. So let’s blame him for the virus.
Likewise, we see the complete, unrestrained response of the media to help whip up all this hysteria, causing people to run on grocery stores, for example.
No one is saying there isn’t a danger, or that people shouldn’t take reasonable precautions. But to keep broadcasting non-stop the latest death numbers — updating them non-stop — it’s reminiscent of the days of the Vietnam War and the nightly network newscasts.
But for Catholics in particular, what we are learning — or rather, confirming — is what we have seen and known for quite a while: Too few bishops have any supernatural faith, or if they do, it’s only a tiny amount, completely insufficient for the sacred office they hold.
Look, Your Excellencies, either this is the Armageddon experience you are all portraying it as, or it’s not. If it is, where are all your spiritual aids? Why aren’t each of you doing daily livestreaming of praying the Rosary — teaching your flock the Rosary — comforting your sheep by sitting in front of a webcam in a studio and reading something of the lives of the saints?
Shall we go on?
Our guess is while you have shut up nearly all the churches, that you haven’t closed down the legal teams and the bean-counters in your employ. For once, publish a letter saying you’re closing the chanceries and not the churches. Are you using the opportunity to speak to so many of your flock locked up behind closed doors — to teach them the catechism that you have been so neglectful about for the past half-century?
Almost every day in this crisis, Church Militant is sending out a spiritual reinforcement e-mail with various assists to remind people about fortitude and perseverance and prayer. You can easily follow suit, you know, Your Excellencies. It’s not that hard, especially since you don’t really have anything else to do until this comes to an end.
Most of you are old, out-of-shape men with probably a variety of underlying health issues. Are you all self-quarantined?
Have you canceled your meetings with millionaire donors whom you schmooze with? How about the CPAs and the lawyers and the marketing guys running your expensive multi-zillion-dollar fundraising campaigns where you lie to the faithful and fleece the flock? Canceled any of those activities, have you? Yeah, we didn’t think so.
Before the parish doors were barred shut, many of you took the opportunity to forbid Holy Communion on the tongue. At last, many of them thought, here’s a chance to kill that medieval practice and blame it on something out of our control.
None of them have confessed that the practice of receiving in the hand, drinking from the cup and laypeople distributing Holy Communion was smuggled into the Church 500 years ago during the Protestant revolt, precisely as a way to kill belief in the Real Presence.
See, the very first Protestants were actually baptized Catholics, who did at one time believe in the Real Presence. But the Protestant revolutionaries had to knock that belief out of the box. So they started these practices to weaken the faith of those first former Catholics.
And the same thing has happened here in the United States, as well as other parts of the world, with the move by various bishops starting in the 1970s to install the disrespectful practice and embed it in the minds of the faithful.
It’s not a big shock that homosexual satanist Cdl. Joseph Bernardin was the one leading the charge nationally — a topic Church Militant covered extensively in our series, Case Files, one of our Church Militant Premiums programs — where we get into the nitty-gritty of how this all came about. Click on the link to see how it all played out.
[Transcript unavailable]
How many bishops are using the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to bone up on all this — to learn the real history of why their dioceses are falling apart? Seventy percent of Catholics don’t believe in the Real Presence, so all this could be easily viewed as Our Lord withdrawing access to Himself — just saying.
If the New York Times can openly speculate — recklessly — that 270 million Americans are going to be infected, then why can’t we posit a more sober and serious reflection?
The Church is in a state of disrepair, broken down by decades of lying, cheating, greedy, homosexual, cover-up bishops who themselves don’t seem to believe in the Real Presence, judging by their cowardice to deal with heretics on the political scene.
So just as God withdrew Himself from the temple in the Old Testament, who’s to say He isn’t doing something similar right now — trying to send a message this Lent?
Whether the bishops have any supernatural faith left to be able to read the signs of the times, well, many of these men vote for and support the Party of Death. You do the math.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Church Militanthttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngChurch Militant2020-04-12 11:09:462020-04-12 11:09:46VIDEO: The Vortex — What Are We Learning? Actually, a lot.
“Notre Dame’s Emilia Justyna Powell, an associate professor of political science and concurrent associate professor of law, an expert in both international law and the Islamic legal tradition, traveled to many Muslim-majority nations to research how the two systems work together in practice.”
Now Powell is on a mission to teach Westerners that Sharia is similar to international law and in some ways superior. For this dubious endeavor she is lavishly featured in the Notre Dame University newspaper. Powell’s canvassing for Sharia has led her to ask “some international court judges” if they “would ever consider referring to parts of the Sharia.”
Powell’s interest in researching Islamic law further is driven, in part, by the bias she sees toward Western law to the point of absolute exclusion of any facets of Islamic law in international law. In fact, some international court judges she interviewed were irritated when she asked if they would ever consider referring to parts of Sharia. “Out of all the religions of the world, we’ve contributed to a large-scale misunderstanding of their legal tradition,” Powell said. “Islamic law and international law share many more similarities than they are given credit for.”
Powell’s skewed view of the Sharia is deceptive, propagandistic and dangerous. There is no comparison between international law (which is democracy-based) and Sharia (which is authoritarian and discriminatory). The violence, human rights abuses and murders committed throughout history in the name of Islam are not an aberration. They are reflections of normative Islam, fully backed by Islamic jurisprudence, which teaches the murder of apostates and gays, the conquest and subjugation of infidels, and the inferiority of women, including the head coverings (Quran 24:31, Quran 33:59) about which Powell fallaciously rambles. The arrogance displayed by Powell is also an affront to Muslim dissidents who face (and experience) imprisonment (and worse) for opposing the human rights abuses sanctioned by Islamic law. Powell’s potential influence on the young minds who must listen to her propaganda in the classroom is concerning. And she is not unique; in fact, in many colleges and universities today, she is the norm.
“Islamic law and international law share many similarities, Notre Dame Professor says,” by Colleen Sharkey, Notre Dame News, April 8, 2020:
The very term Sharia conjures negative images in the minds of many Westerners, in part due to its association with extremist groups. However, an in-depth look at Islamic law, as practiced in the vast majority of Muslim-majority countries, reveals that it is interpreted in different ways depending on the country, its culture and the very people conducting the interpretation.
Notre Dame’s Emilia Justyna Powell, an associate professor of political science and concurrent associate professor of law, an expert in both international law and the Islamic legal tradition, traveled to many Muslim-majority nations to research how the two systems work together in practice. Her findings were published earlier this year in the volume Islamic Law and International Law: Peaceful Resolution of Disputes.
Powell uses the differences in how women dress in various Muslim-majority countries as an analogy for the various interpretations of Sharia.
“A perfect visualization is women’s head coverings. The Taliban encourages women to cover top to bottom, not even showing the eyes. In Saudi Arabia, sometimes eyes are visible but not much else,” she said. “I was recently in Bahrain where I witnessed a new trend: Women are unzipping their abayas and you can see Western-influenced clothing underneath like jeans, ruffles and lace. Many women don’t wear the hijab scarf there and some only wear it halfway on. But who’s to say which is correct? Bahrain is no less Islamic than Saudi Arabia, for example, just different. People in all Muslim-majority countries interpret and, thus, practice the Muslim faith differently.”
International law itself is based on a broad set of norms agreed upon by people from many different nations and cultures. It is also heavily based on Western law which, itself, has deep roots in Christianity — a religion that originated at a time when Roman law was already well established. “Islam, on the other hand, had no a priori legal system to work with other than unwritten tribal customs,” Powell writes. And, while international law has moved to a more secular model, Islamic law remains based in the writings of the Quran and the sunna as well as ijma (judicial consensus) and qiyas (analogical reasoning).
“However, disconcerting the dissonance between the Islamic legal tradition and international law may appear, there are more similarities between these two legal systems than the policy world and the scholarship take into account,” she writes.
By its broad nature, international law allows for interpretation based on norms in individual countries. And many Muslim-majority states have their own declaration of human rights, she notes.
“Sometimes international law promotes the peaceful resolution of disputes, but does not give specific rules or cite specific laws for how to do so. Countries can mediate, peacefully, via negotiation in compliance with international law. Sometimes Muslim-majority countries will also sign international treaties but place restrictions on them — what are technically called ‘reservations.’”
For example, some Muslim-majority countries use reservations to remove “freedom of religion” clauses, because their religion is inextricably part of their culture, with the assumption (often part of the country’s own understanding of human rights) that many of their citizens are all Muslim. In this way, Powell says, they are complying with some international norms but allowing for their identity to remain intact.
Powell also examines how Muslim-majority nations in different geographical areas use Sharia and work within the international law framework. In general, Powell finds that if an ILS (Islamic Law State) country has a secular court system and their constitution mentions peaceful resolutions of disputes, they possess a more favorable attitude toward international courts.
“The Islamic milieu is not a monolith. In each of the ILS, secular law and Islamic law coalesce to create a unique legal framework. Every one of the ILS is different in how it negotiates the relationship between these two legal forces — the religious and the secular — along with their respective differences in socio-demographic and political characteristics. Historically, every one of the ILS has worked out its own unique answers to the question of the balance of Islamic law and secular law,” she writes.
The examples Powell gathered through interviews shed light on the cultural and religious lenses through which many Muslims view courts….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2020-04-11 07:12:472020-04-11 07:14:37Notre Dame prof hails Islamic law, asks international law judges to consider “referring to parts of Sharia”
Faith communities all over the world are leveraging technology to stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic. What would have been impossible a decade ago has been made easy today through smartphones and social media platforms.
Facebook recently launched its Faith on Facebook Resource Hub, which is equipped with the tools that pastors, priests, rabbis, and other faith leaders need to connect online with their congregants during the pandemic.
“When this [COVID-19] happened, I realized early on that it was going to be important for us to be really engaged with faith communities, the churches, pastors, and denominations,” Nona Jones, head of faith-based partnerships at Facebook, told The Daily Signal in a recent phone interview.
The Faith on Facebook Resource Hub is designed as a user-friendly toolkit for faith leaders of all ages and backgrounds to learn how to stream church services through Facebook Live; create Groups, where people can share prayer requests or other needs; or create fundraisers for those in need.
In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>
“All of this information was available on our platform, but it was in different places,” Jones said. “What we did is, we just consolidated it into this toolkit. I chose the products that we highlighted because, out of my own experience leading a church and working with other pastors, I realized that those specific products were the ones that would be best-suited to digital discipleship.”
In addition to her job at Facebook, Jones pastors a church with her husband, Tim Jones, called Open Door Ministries in Gainesville, Florida. The resources that appear on the hub are ones that Jones knew would be helpful for most pastors.
She said Facebook hired her about three years ago to lead its faith-based partnerships not “in spite of my faith, but because of it.”
Facebook has long recognized the value faith communities bring to society, Jones explained, adding:
Almost 85% of the world ascribes to a faith tradition. To be a platform that serves almost a third of the world, I think there was just a recognition that in order for us to make sure that people are healthy and whole, we would have to be a place that was enabling them to connect to their faith.
At her own church, Jones and her husband used Facebook recently to host a special prayer week.
“We have a Facebook Group called Open Door Ministries Online. Every morning at about 7 a.m., a post will go up, and it will ask people how we can pray for them. And then at 7 p.m., my husband and I and our children will actually go live, and we will pray for all the requests that were made that day.”
Many other churches and faith groups are using Facebook in similar ways during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Potter’s House of North Dallas in Frisco, Texas, had started a fitness club for their church, Jones said. “When COVID-19 happened, they thought they might have to shut down the fitness classes. But instead, they just started doing them live in their group,” she said.
NewSong Church in Vienna, Virginia, is using Facebook Live not only to stream its service on Sunday, but also to host short times of midday prayer during the week.
“We have seen a tremendous increase in the number of spiritual pages that are going live … sometimes two or three times the increase,” Jones said.
For individuals who might be apprehensive about using the social platform during the coronavirus, Jones said, “I know the idea of using tech can be intimidating but … don’t allow your feelings to keep you from exploring, because it’s actually easier than you might think.”
The many different components of the platform, such as Groups, Facebook Live, and Pages, may sound confusing, but Jones used the analogy of a house to describe how the many components work together to create an effective outreach tool that faith communities can easily begin to leverage.
If you think about Facebook like a house, then you can think of your Page like it’s the front porch of your house. So that is the place where people can see what you are about, what you are up to, but you don’t just want to have a front porch.
You also want to have a living room, the place where people can have conversations, and that is what Facebook Groups is for. You can link up to 250 Groups to your Page.
But between your porch and your living room is a front door, and that is what Facebook Live is. Facebook Live is essentially the door that you open to the living room.
Jones said she has received positive feedback from individuals who have discovered that Facebook is a “way to continue to do what you have always done, and even though you can’t get together in person, you can still be together online.”
Virginia Allen is a news producer for The Daily Signal. She is the co-host of The Daily Signal Podcast and Problematic Women. Send an email to Virginia. Twitter: @Virginia_Allen5
A Note for our Readers:
This is a critical year in the history of our country. With the country polarized and divided on a number of issues and with roughly half of the country clamoring for increased government control—over health care, socialism, increased regulations, and open borders—we must turn to America’s founding for the answers on how best to proceed into the future.
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They’re making this guide available to all readers of The Daily Signal for free today!
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00The Daily Signalhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngThe Daily Signal2020-04-11 06:39:232020-04-11 06:39:23Can’t Go to Church Amid COVID-19? Faith on Facebook Is Here to Help
Topics include: Islamic Golden Age; the future of Islam; reforming Islam; the slave trade; Islamic dualism, poverty and Islam; why Macron will not be able to create a European Islam; the difference between opinion and facts; what I like about Islam and the difference between our civilization and Islamic civilization.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Bill Warnerhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngBill Warner2020-04-11 06:02:262020-04-11 06:02:26VIDEO: A 35 Minute Interview on Political Islam
