Grab the Popcorn: Free Speech Foe Gets Threatened with Prison for ‘Blasphemy’

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The threat is not surprising, given the authoritarian Islamic character of Pakistan’s government and its vicious hostility to the Ahmadiyya movement, as it forbids Ahmadis to call themselves Muslims and persecutes them in numerous ways. The TrueIslam.com website presents Ahmadi Islam as the pure and genuine form of the religion, despite the fact that the Ahmadiyya movement is regarded as heretical by mainstream Muslims and represents an infinitesimal percentage of the worldwide Muslim population. Zafar and his colleague Amjad Mahmood Khan, who was also threatened, must have known that such a site would ruffle the Pakistani government’s feathers.

But what made this more than just another story about the repressive Pakistani government is the fact that back in January 2013, Zafar published an op-ed in the Washington Post entitled, “Making Islamic Sense of Free Speech.” In it, Zafar offered a manifesto for the destruction of the freedom of speech worthy of a true totalitarian.

“The difference between Islam’s view on free speech and the view promoted by free speech advocates these days,” Zafar asserted, “is the intention and ultimate goal each seeks to promote. Whereas many secularists champion individual privileges, Islam promotes the principle of uniting mankind and cultivating love and understanding among people. Both endorse freedom for people to express themselves, but Islam promotes unity, whereas modern-day free speech advocates promote individualism.”

The unity Zafar envisioned involved restrictions on the freedom of speech: “In order to unite mankind, Islam instructs to only use speech to be truthful, do good to others, and be fair and respectful. It attempts to pre-empt [sic] frictions by prescribing rules of conduct which guarantee for all people not only freedom of speech but also fairness, absolute justice, and the right of disagreement.”

So we can have the freedom of speech as long as “fairness” is ensured by Islamic “rules of conduct.” With evident distaste, Zafar continued by claiming that “the most vocal proponents of freedom of speech, however, call us towards a different path, where people can say anything and everything on their mind. With no restraint on speech at all, every form of provocation would exist, thereby cultivating confrontation and antagonism. They insist this freedom entitles them the legal privilege to insult others. This is neither democracy nor freedom of speech. It fosters animosity, resentment and disorder.”

Note the sleight of hand: “With no restraint on speech at all, every form of provocation would exist, thereby cultivating confrontation and antagonism.” Zafar was implying that the Muslims who riot and kill because of perceived affronts to Islam were not responsible for their own actions, but that those who supposedly provoked them were.

This is an increasingly widespread confusion in the West, willfully spread by people such as Zafar. In reality, the only person responsible for his actions is the person who is acting, not anyone else. You may provoke me in a hundred ways, but my response is my own, which I choose from a range of possible responses, and only I am responsible for it.

But having established that if someone riots and kills in response to someone else’s speech, the fault lies with the speaker, not the rioter, Zafar drove his point home: speech must be restricted in the interests of “world peace”: “Treating speech as supreme at the expense of world peace and harmony is an incredibly flawed concept. No matter how important the cause of free speech, it still pales in comparison to the cause of world peace and unity.”

And who will decide what speech accords with “world peace and harmony,” and what speech does not? Why, Zafar and his friends, of course. But what if the Pakistani government claimed that right for itself, and decided that what Zafar himself was saying did not accord with “world peace and harmony”?

Harris Zafar could well become the Nikolai Yezhov of our age. Yezhov was the Soviet secret police chief who sent innumerable people to their deaths in the gulag before Stalin decided it was his turn. Nowadays, Zafar has become the first advocate of restrictions on the freedom of speech to run afoul of people who want to take his own freedom of speech away. But as the silencing continues, he will by no means be the last.

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

Wife of Hamas-linked CAIR top dog Hassan Shibly accuses him of beating her, he resigns, may be disbarred

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No surprise here in Shibly’s behavior. He is clearly a true believer, a Sharia-adherent Muslim. What is surprising is that Imane Sadrati actually has dared to complain. The Qur’an teaches that men are superior to women and should beat those from whom they “fear disobedience”: “Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.” — Qur’an 4:34

Muhammad’s child bride, Aisha, says in a hadith that Muhammad “struck me on the chest which caused me pain, and then said: ‘Did you think that Allah and His Apostle would deal unjustly with you?’” — Sahih Muslim 2127

It will be interesting now to see if Shibly attempts a religious freedom defense, as did doctors in Michigan who were accused of practicing female genital mutilation. They succeeded with this defense. Maybe he will, too.

CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case — so named by the Justice Department. CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror. CAIR’s cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Ibrahim Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements about how Islamic law should be imposed in the U.S. (Ahmad denies this, but the original reporter stands by her story.) CAIR chapters frequently distribute pamphlets telling Muslims not to cooperate with law enforcement. CAIR has opposed virtually every anti-terror measure that has been proposed or implemented and has been declared a terror organization by the United Arab Emirates. CAIR’s Hussam Ayloush in 2017 called for the overthrow of the U.S. government. CAIR’s national outreach manager is an open supporter of Hamas.

“CAIR Executive Shibley [sic] Beats Wife, Resigns, and Could Get Disbarred,” by Javier Manjarres, The Floridian, January 24, 2021:

Former Executive Director of the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Florida, Hassan Shibly (pictured) has literally taken what the Qur’an says about beating your wife and applied it to his own family.

Verse 4:34 in the Qu’ran allows for Muslim men to “strike” their wives, and that is exactly what Hassan Shibly did to his wife Imane Sadrati, who has accused him in a fundraising video of beating her in front of her children, causing her living situation with Shibly as “unbearable.”

“My children and I are in desperate need of your help,” stated Sadrati. “For years I’ve been in an abusive relationship, and the situation at home has become unbearable. I’ve finally decided to build the courage to start over.”

This is the same Syria-born Shibly that hosted Rep. Ilhan Omar at a CAIR fundraiser in California, where he infamously stated, “some people did something” about the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks against the U.S….

Shibly is a devout Islamists [sic] that defended the “ISIS bride”, has called the terror group Hezbollah a “resistance movement,” tweeted that “Israel and its supporters are enemies of God,” and praised Palestinian terrorist Marvan [sic] Barghouti as a “hero.”

In addition, Hassan Shibly for the last two years has engaged in a high-profile spat with Conservative journalist and former Republican nominee for Congress, Laura Loomer.

Loomer sued Hassan Shibly and CAIR FL in a Florida court for tortious interference for their role in getting her banned from Twitter and other social media sites.

In a statement to The Floridian, Loomer stated that she had long sounded the alarm about Shibly.

“I’ve been warning people about the national security threat Hassan Shibly poses to Florida and our nation for years. I’m happy to see that the leader of  CAIR- FL, CAIR’s largest branch in the country, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the UAE, has resigned over a domestic violence dispute. His resignation should have been submitted in 2019 when he advocated for Hoda Muthana, an ISIS bride who fled to Syria to be readmitted to the US despite her Murderous threats against Americans. fled to Syria to be readmitted to the US despite her Murderous threats against Americans.”…

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Hamas-linked CAIR files appeal to decision to dismiss case against professor for criticizing Islam

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

The ‘Muslim Ban’ Is Gone. Now Come the Reminders of Why We Needed It.

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Joe Biden had barely been in the Oval Office long enough to exile the Winston Churchill bust yet again when he repealed the notorious “Muslim Ban,” and so now Americans can rest easy. We have repudiated one of the hallmarks of the Bad Orange Man’s administration, put “racism” and “Islamophobia” behind us, and resumed our role as a refuge for the tired, the poor, the woke masses. And so as a glorious new multicultural era dawns in America, after a four-year-long speed bump, will come the reminders that virtue-signaling is never a risk-free proposition.

For besides cementing Old Joe’s role as the errand boy for his party’s ascendant hard-Left wing, that was all the repeal of the “Muslim Ban” was: virtue-signaling. The executive order his handlers had ready for him to sign on Wednesday made that clear. “Beyond contravening our values,” it said, “these Executive Orders and Proclamations” — that is, the ones instituting the bans – “have undermined our national security. They have jeopardized our global network of alliances and partnerships and are a moral blight that has dulled the power of our example the world over. And they have separated loved ones, inflicting pain that will ripple for years to come. They are just plain wrong.”

That “moral blight” bit is the key, as it would be hard for Biden’s handlers to whisper into his earpiece a coherent argument for how a ban on travel from such upstanding members of the international community as Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, North Korea, Venezuela, Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Sudan and Tanzania undermined, rather than strengthened, national security.

But even the “moral blight” business runs into a major problem: there never really was a “Muslim Ban” at all. From beginning to end, that was just propaganda designed to smear Trump as a racist (even though Islam is, contrary to popular belief, actually not a race), bigoted, “Islamophobe.” It had no basis in reality. For as you may be aware, North Korea, Venezuela, and Myanmar are not actually Muslim countries at all. Eritrea has about a fifty percent Muslim population. Tanzania is about 35% Muslim.

What’s more, the world’s largest Muslim populations are (in descending order) in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Algeria, and Sudan. Iran, Nigeria and Sudan are the only ones on the “Muslim Ban” list. If Trump had really wanted to bar Muslims from entering the United States, he would have banned travel from Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, and Algeria. He made no attempt to do so. If he had intended to impose a “Muslim Ban,” barring travel from North Korea but not Pakistan was a remarkably inefficient way to go about it.

What led to the grouping of countries in the Trump “Muslim Ban” was not that they were Muslim at all. The travel bans were on countries that could not or would not provide adequate information about who was entering. It was a national security move from start to finish. But now Obama’s dotty old puppet and his handlers have made sure that any consideration of national security issues in connection with mass migration will be dismissed as “racist” and “Islamophobic.”

And so now the reminders of why we needed Trump’s travel bans will start coming. Here is a preview: Somali Muslim migrant Mohammad Barry in February 2016 stabbed multiple patrons at a restaurant owned by an Israeli Arab Christian; Ahmad Khan Rahami, an Afghan Muslim migrant, in September 2016 set off bombs in New York City and New Jersey; Arcan Cetin, a Turkish Muslim migrant, in September 2016 murdered five people in a mall in Burlington, Washington; Dahir Adan, another Somali Muslim migrant, in October 2016 stabbed mall shoppers in St. Cloud while screaming “Allahu akbar”; and Abdul Razak Artan, yet another Somali Muslim migrant, in November 2016 injured nine people with car and knife attacks at Ohio State University.

Seventy-two jihad terrorists had entered the U.S. from the countries listed in Trump’s initial immigration ban before it was instituted. But once the travel bans came into effect, suddenly we didn’t see as much of this as we had before. Yes, this was no coincidence.

There are warning signs from Europe as well. All of the jihadis who murdered 130 people in Paris in November 2015 had just entered Europe as refugees. Numerous other Muslim migrants since then have committed “lone wolf” jihad attacks on the streets of several European countries.

But to consider such matters is now officially “racist” and “Islamophobic.” The problem with virtue-signaling by our moral superiors in Washington, however, is that they never have to deal with the consequences of their actions; ordinary Americans do. Anyone who is the victim of a crime or a jihad attack perpetrated by a migrant from one of the countries on Trump’s travel ban list can expect no sympathy from Biden’s handlers. Their constituency has been served, and it isn’t the Americans who have to deal with criminal migrants. As a nation, we are no longer “racist,” at least in this particular, and that’s all that matters.

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

Notorious Antisemite Robert Malley joining Biden team as special Iran envoy

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You may recall that Malley was foreign policy adviser to then-presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2007, and was fired from his campaign team in 2008 because of his notorious ties to Hamas, the PLO and other jihadist, anti-Israel groups.

Atlas readers are long familiar with this subversive jihad operative. As early as 2007 and  2008 (and repeatedly throughout the campaign and in my book), I warned Geller Report  readers of the troubling relationship between Robert O. Malley and Barack Hussein Obama.

ROBERT MALLEY TOLD THE NY TIMES THAT HE HAD REGULARLY BEEN IN CONTACT WITH HAMAS, WHICH IS DESIGNATED A  TERRORIST ORGANISATION BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT.

2007 and further:

[Malley] was part of the American negotiating team that dealt with Yasser Arafat at Camp David. He has presented a revisionist history of those negotiations since then:
presenting a view that blames Israel for the failures of the negotiations. His version has been radically at odds with the views of Americans and Israelis (including the views of American Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross-also an adviser to Obama- and President Clinton). He has spent years representing the Palestinian point of view, co-writing a series of anti-Israel articles with Hussein Agha-a former Arafat adviser. Palestinian advocate. These have appeared in the New York Review of Books a publication that has served as a platform for a slew of anti-Israel advocates from Tony Judt to the aforementioned George Soros to the authors of the Israeli Lobby book Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer. Malley has also called settlements “colonies” — implicitly condemning Israel as a “colonial” state. His writings have been so critical of Israel that the media-monitoring group CAMERA has a “dossier” on him.

Discover the Networks:

In a July 2001 op-ed (titled “Fictions About the Failure at Camp David”) which was published in the New York Times, Robert Malley (whose family, as noted above, had close ties to Yasser Arafat) alleged that Israeli — not Palestinian — inflexibility had caused the previous year’s Camp David peace talks (brokered by Bill Clinton) to fail. This was one of several controversial articles Malley has written — some he co-wrote with Hussein Agha, a former adviser to Arafat — blaming Israel and exonerating Arafat for that failure.

One security official at the time said, “We are noting with concern some of Obama’s picks as advisers, particularly Robert Malley who has expressed sympathy to Hamas and Hezbollah and offered accounts of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that don’t jibe with the facts” (here).

Because of the exposure of Malley by the blogs, he was removed from Obama’s campaign team. But the mask is off, and Obama has no need to pretend to be something he is not. Malley is back and in charge of the Obama “war” against ISIS.

This guy is dangerous. Robert Malley is one of the architects of the radical JCPOA (Iran Nuclear Deal) with Iran. In addition, Malley was one of lead advisors for President Obama’s disastrous ISIS policy. Malley is also a rabid hater of Israel, and will often write viciously anti-Israel screeds in various publications. In fact, In 2008 Malley was actually removed from Obama’s election committee due to his meetings with Hamas officials.

President Biden’s foreign policy team is absolutely horrendous. The Middle East is very likely going to become a far more dangerous place in the next four years.

Related – Major Jewish Group ‘Concerned’ by White House Appointment of Robert Malley as Middle East Coordinator

Related – What would hiring Robert Malley say about Biden’s plans on Iran?

“Ronald Radosh, adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, who provided some background on Malley in 2015, recalled that Malley was removed from Obama’s 2008 election committee after “protests from the Jewish community about his private meetings with Hamas.”

“In articles primarily appearing in The New York Review of Books, he regularly focused on Israel’s supposed sins and responsibility for lack of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. A profile of him in Discover the Networks has links to his articles, many of which were co-authored with Hussein Agha, a former advisor to Yasser Arafat.”

“Malley’s parents were rabidly anti-Israel and counted Yasir Arafat as a personal friend. Indeed, Arafat was among those ‘leaders’ (for want of a better word) who had intervened with the French government to readmit the Malley family to France after being expelled for their radical activities,”

Robert Malley reportedly joining Biden team as special Iran envoy

By World Israel News, January 22, 2021

Robert Malley is rumored to be in line for a position on Biden’s team as special envoy on Iran, the Jewish Insider reports on Jan. 20, a source of concern for Israel supporters.

President Joe Biden has made no secret of his desire to return to the 2015 Iran deal, an agreement bitterly opposed by Israel and described by former President Donald Trump as “the worst deal ever” and one which paved the way for Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. Trump exited the deal in 2018.

Former State Department official Aaron David Miller told Jewish Insider that appointing Malley would be a “smart move,” saying he understands the issues surrounding the agreement and has a close relationship with incoming Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Advisor-designate Jake Sullivan.

However, Malley’s background is troubling to others, who point to his history of criticizing Israel.

Ronald Radosh, adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, who provided some background on Malley in 2015, recalled that Malley was removed from Obama’s 2008 election committee after “protests from the Jewish community about his private meetings with Hamas.”

Radosh writes, “In articles primarily appearing in The New York Review of Books, he regularly focused on Israel’s supposed sins and responsibility for lack of peace between Israel and the Palestinians. A profile of him in Discover the Networks has links to his articles, many of which were co-authored with Hussein Agha, a former advisor to Yasser Arafat.”

Jeff Dunetz, founder of The Lid Blog, says “For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Malley, he is a second-generation Israel hater. I do not believe the father’s sins are visited on the son, but this son has chosen to follow in his dad’s footsteps.”

“Malley’s parents were rabidly anti-Israel and counted Yasir Arafat as a personal friend. Indeed, Arafat was among those ‘leaders’ (for want of a better word) who had intervened with the French government to readmit the Malley family to France after being expelled for their radical activities,” Dunetz writes.

As President Clinton’s special assistant for Arab-Israeli Affairs, Malley appears to be the only one who blamed Israel for the failure of the 2000 Camp David peace talks.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. Quick note: Tech giants are snuffing us out. You know this. Facebook, Twitter, Google et al have shadowbanned, suspended and in some cases deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s critical NOW more than ever.

A Different Inauguration

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Fr. Paul D. Scalia: “Repent” is the foundational Gospel command. It’s always timely. Sin is the construction of one’s own petty little kingdom.

Saint John Henry Newman once observed that men always think of their own day and age as the worst. In every time, he said, “serious and anxious minds, alive to the honour of God and the needs of man, are apt to consider no times so perilous as their own.” Indeed, we see this from Cicero – O tempora! O mores! – to Thomas Paine – These are the times that try men’s souls! – to today’s political hyperboles.

Ironically, Newman made this observation on the way to claiming that the trials of his own day were indeed the worst. They were such that “would appall and make dizzy even such courageous hearts as St. Athanasius, St. Gregory I, or St. Gregory VII. And they would confess that dark as the prospect of their own day was to them severally, ours has a darkness different in kind from any that has been before it.”

One sympathizes.

As we look at the cultural, political, and ecclesiastical wreckage around us, we are tempted to conclude the same. Political division and cultural relativism, simmering religious persecution, widespread infidelity, and ecclesiastical confusion – these make our times arduous and presage more difficulties ahead.

Still, it’s of little use and of frequent distraction to try to pinpoint our time’s exact location on the chart of woeful times. What matters is not how today’s evils compare to yesterday’s, but how we respond to them. In such circumstances, it’s good to go back to basics. And basics are just what today’s Gospel gives us. (Mk 1:14-20)

Last week the world was focused on the presidential inauguration. Today’s Gospel presents another – a very different and more important – inauguration: the beginning of our Lord’s public ministry. “After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God.”

Our Lord even gives a brief inaugural address: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Unlike the typical timebound, agenda-laden inaugural address, our Lord’s words focus on eternal truths. They are timeless and thus apt for every moment in history, including our own.

He declares, “This is the time of fulfillment.” For the ancient Israelites, that had a very specific meaning: the realization of all that had been promised and prophesied for centuries. The long-awaited Messiah has come. The kingdom of God is no longer a desire, but at hand.

More broadly, we can take the “time of fulfillment” to indicate that all time and all times have meaning only in relation to Christ and His Kingdom. He relates all of history to Himself and thus sets it in proper perspective. If we try to interpret and respond to our times apart from Him, we tragically misread them.

This is the proper supernatural outlook: to measure our current circumstances not according to the world’s standard and solutions, but according to the reality and power of the Kingdom of God that is at hand no less today than 2000 years ago. And that Kingdom requires two things: repentance and faith.

“Repent” is the foundational Gospel command. It’s always timely. Sin is the construction of my own petty little kingdom. It might be a squalid, selfish, peevish place, but at least it’s mine. Admission into the Kingdom of God requires that I repent and renounce this miserable rival kingdom.

This repentance takes on greater significance as we are called to confront the evils of our day. The greatest danger in war is to adopt the immoral tactics of the enemy. So, in opposing the culture of death, we risk growing bitter, hardened, and resentful. Our response to evil must always be seen in relation to the “time of fulfillment,” and thus preceded by our own repentance. Only a heart set right with Christ can see with clarity and speak with charity.

The prophets of Israel never considered themselves exempt from the sinfulness of their people. “Woe to me! For I am lost,” says Isaiah, “For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” (Is 6:5) The first step in speaking the truth is repentance for our own actions against it. As we have an obligation to bear witness to the truth, so we should understand ourselves as rebellious, sinful, and in need of the truth we proclaim.

Next, “believe in the Gospel.” Repentance cleanses our souls; faith opens them to God’s grace and truth. Again, this takes on greater significance in our trying times. Against increasing darkness, the light of faith enables us to judge wisely, so that the world’s deceits will not mislead us. That faith also makes us stouthearted, able to stand fast and persevere, because we know the one in Whom we have believed. (cf. 2 Tim 1:12)

An exchange between Frodo and Gandalf is helpful for this consideration. The poor hobbit has just learned that the evil Sauron was rising again and menacing Middle Earth. He says, “I wish it need not have happened in my time.” Again, one sympathizes. But Gandalf responds, “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

For us, the first and most fundamental thing to do with the time that is given us is to repent and believe in the Gospel.

COLUMN BY

Fr. Paul D. Scalia

Fr. Paul Scalia is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington, Va, where he serves as Episcopal Vicar for Clergy. His new book is That Nothing May Be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion.

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

CALIFORNIA: Muslim Lawyer Praises Hitler, Calls for New Genocide of the Jews

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Will he be disbarred? Of course not. That would be “Islamophobic.” “The California bar investigated him and unbelievably found no actionable conduct.”

There is so much corruption these days, you need wings to stay above it.

The Jews in the Qur’an are called the strongest of all people in enmity toward the Muslims (5:82); they fabricate things and falsely ascribe them to Allah (2:79; 3:75, 3:181); they claim that Allah’s power is limited (5:64); they love to listen to lies (5:41); they disobey Allah and never observe his commands (5:13). They are disputing and quarreling (2:247); hiding the truth and misleading people (3:78); staging rebellion against the prophets and rejecting their guidance (2:55); being hypocritical (2:14, 2:44); giving preference to their own interests over the teachings of Muhammad (2:87); wishing evil for people and trying to mislead them (2:109); feeling pain when others are happy or fortunate (3:120); being arrogant about their being Allah’s beloved people (5:18); devouring people’s wealth by subterfuge (4:161); slandering the true religion and being cursed by Allah (4:46); killing the prophets (2:61); being merciless and heartless (2:74); never keeping their promises or fulfilling their words (2:100); being unrestrained in committing sins (5:79); being cowardly (59:13-14); being miserly (4:53); being transformed into apes and pigs for breaking the Sabbath (2:63-65; 5:59-60; 7:166); and more. They are under Allah’s curse (9:30), and Muslims should wage war against them and subjugate them under Islamic hegemony (9:29).

“California Lawyer Farhad Khorasani Calls for Genocide of Jews,” Israellycool, January 19, 2021 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Farhad Khorasani is an Iranian-American international lawyer who has his own law firm Khorasani Law.

He is also is the founder and chair of the Iranian American Sport Association (IASA),  a Los-Angeles based 501c3 nonprofit organization, “to help save his family sport, Olympic wrestling, and to bridge the sports gap between the two nations and support USA-Iran Sports Diplomacy.” As such, he appears on Persian TV to comment on Iran-US sports relations.

[CLICK HERE AND HERE TO SEE HIS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS]

He’s also acted.

Sounds like quite the guy.

Except he’s not. He is a vile Jew hater.

After these posts were exposed – including by a former classmate of his who had no idea he was like this – the California bar investigated him and unbelievably found no actionable conduct….

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

Totalitarian America: Priest SUSPENDED For Attending Pro-Trump rally at U.S. Capitol

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Crushing our unalienable rights under the boot of communist Democrats.

Priest suspended for attending pro-Trump rally at US Capitol

Archpriest Mark Hodges has been suspended for attending the “Stop the Steal” rally ahead of the

By Joshua Rhett Miller, The NY Post, January 21, 2021 |

An Ohio priest has been suspended for attending the “Stop the Steal” rally ahead of the US Capitol siege — a punishment he ripped as “unjust,” according to reports.

Archpriest Mark Hodges, who is affiliated with St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church in Dayton, told the Journal-News that he was slapped with a three-month suspension and faces possible defrocking for simply attending the demonstration by President Donald Trump supporters.

“My beloved bishop had questioned the wisdom of a priest attending,” Hodges told the newspaper this week. “I think part of the problem is I viewed that ‘Stop the Steal’ rally as expressing extreme concerns over voter fraud allegations in the 2020 election.”

A notice on the Orthodox Church in America’s Diocese of the Midwest website shows that Hodges was “suspended from all priestly functions” effective Jan. 12. No additional details are provided and a message seeking further comment was not immediately returned early Thursday.

“I disagree,” Hodges said of the disciplinary action.

Hodges, of Lima, said he was informed of the move directly from Archbishop Paul Gassios, who heads the Diocese of the Midwest. A diocese spokesman declined to comment on the matter, the Journal-News reported.

Hodges said he has served as a “supply” priest for the past few years at parishes in Cleveland, Byesville and Toledo, as well as other churches in Michigan when vacancies arise.

Hodges told the Lima News he was informed by Gassios he was “guilty by association” for attending the rally. The archbishop confirmed Hodges’ suspension to the newspaper, but declined additional comment, saying “that is between myself and Father Mark Hodges to address.”

In a letter written to “concerned loved ones” that he shared with the Lima News, Hodges recalled the “joyful” rally where he met “wonderful” people and many families.

“It was good, huge,” the letter read. “Easily as big as any March for Life I’d been to, and I’ve been to most since the ‘80s, so I believed the whispered estimates of half-to-three-quarters of a million.”

Hodges said he saw one man who was sprayed with an irritant who told him “they’re attacking us,” he recalled.

“At this point, I had no idea of the violence inside the Capitol,” Hodges stated. “I heard the young men cursing and taunting the police.”

Hodges said he then “began to leave” as police unleashed tear gas into the crowd while he was about 25 feet away. He told a woman with him, “We should go,” he recalled.

“We left and went to Union Station,” the priest wrote in the letter.

Guidelines on the Orthodox Church in America’s website state that “clergy should refrain” from making political statements, joining political groups or “becoming fans” of political candidates or causes on social media platforms.

Hodges, meanwhile, had previously urged others on Facebook to join him at the “mega MAGA rally” on Jan. 6 in Washington.

“Whatever happens on that historic day, it will be an event to remember,” Hodges wrote. “You can tell your grandchildren that you were on the front lines in the Second American Revolution, where you fought to save the Republic.”

RELATED ARTICLE: Virginia state Sen. Amanda Chase stripped from committee assignment after connection to Trump rally

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Our First Anti-Catholic ‘Catholic’ President

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Robert Royal: You can carry rosary beads and bless yourself publicly as much as you want. But please, don’t expect Catholics to be blind.

In recent days, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago has described the pre-inauguration statement issued by USCCB President and Archbishop of Los Angeles José Gómez as “unprecedented” for what – in any non-partisan perspective – were actually quite temperate warnings to President Biden that the Church will not ignore his departures from clear Catholic teachings. In fact, the Chicago Cardinal has become rather obsessive, tweeting out what some have called a Twitter “storm” about the whole affair.

Cupich’s criticisms of his fellow bishops are themselves also quite unprecedented. Then again, the thing that’s most “unprecedented” – that’s given rise to these recent in-house Catholic squabbles – is the election of a self-described “Catholic” president, who not only believes personally that abortion, gay “marriage” (he performed one as vice-president), transgenderism (“the civil rights issue of our time”), and much more are matters of overriding political urgency, despite the long teachings of the Church and American history. He’s determined – actually seems to be going out of his way – to impose those views. On all of us.

But there’s even worse. As we’ll soon see – I hope to be wrong about this – he and the people he is appointing are poised not only aggressively to advance bad policies, but also to curtail religious liberties where they conflict with the tenets of the Alternative Creed that many Democrats – and not only them – have now embraced. It’s not only going to be the Little Sister of the Poor this time, though they will be back in court again soon. It’s Catholic (and other religious) adoption agencies, poverty programs, hospitals, schools, maybe even parishes or dioceses that are too starkly Catholic.

The Courts or a stray Democrat or so in Congress may stop some of the worst from happening. But that’s a slender hope with so much in play.

What’s truly unprecedented, then, beyond being an unfaithful Catholic, is that Biden has already shown himself by word and deed to be an anti-Catholic “Catholic.” Indeed, he’s an equal opportunity religious bigot who, for all the talk of coming together, will ride roughshod over his co-religionists as well as traditional Protestants and evangelicals, Orthodox and Conservative Jews, Muslims, Mormons, and even secular citizens who believe that “woke” politics do not abolish ordinary reason and human nature.

Biden has tried to position himself as a moderate and a man who wants to bring back American “unity.” In his inaugural address, however, he and his speechwriters told us exactly where they think the fault lines lie:

I know the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know they are not new. Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we are all created equal and the harsh, ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, and demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial.

In the unlikely event that you are a racist, hate foreigners, suffer from politically incorrect “phobias,” and – ahem, unlike liberals – demonize opponents, consider yourself forewarned. If, however, you think that by opposing certain policy choices you are yourself being demonized and marginalized by a political clique, well, you’ll just have to bear the stigma of being called bigoted and opposed to American “unity.”

Like Nancy Pelosi, who has said that some Catholics have placed their pro-life views “above democracy,” Biden has over the years talked himself into an alternative faith centered in partisan politics. A Catholic, indeed any sincere religious believer, should have no trouble saying – with the necessary qualifications – that of course he or she places God and his Word above any political order.

Any public figure who goes out of his way to make a display of his Catholicism should expect to receive scrutiny for his claim. Who knew that according to some Catholic Democrats the Constitution, for example, gives the Federal government the power to tell us which pronouns, family relationships, and “genders” can and cannot be used in conducting the business of the American people?

You can carry around rosary beads and bless yourself publicly as much as you want. But please, don’t expect Catholics to be blind. Or stupid. It’s not surprising when political partisans, religious or not, place their party and ambitions first, while masking it as an appeal to compassion and patriotism. But when a Catholic politician openly chooses to follow his wayward political party rather than his Church, lays out a whole set of policies that will negatively impact that Church, and immediately sets out to implement them, he’s seeking neither civic unity nor religious fidelity.

But let us also learn a lesson from this: we do not need to act like this ourselves. Christians aren’t in the world to cancel people; we’re here to convert them.  The nation is divided and needs to be evangelized. The alternative is civil war or secession. A nation divided in its ultimate commitments cannot resolve differences politically unless we open up space to live and let live. We can do that and still stand up – forcefully – for truth.

We won’t get that from the Biden administration. But we can prepare among ourselves a different mentality by the ways we think, speak, and act, now. It’s not an easy road. There are pitfalls everywhere. But God never said that his way would be easy.

Our bishops are shepherds, as well as public figures. They must teach, sanctify, and govern the flock as well as be public witnesses to the Truth. Gomez and the other bishops who joined him were right to express willingness to co-operate, even “dialogue” – however unlikely, given ideological hatreds – with the incoming administration. But they were even more right to make clear that (to borrow from St. Thomas More) they are America’s good servants, but God’s first.

That may seem unprecedented to some, but let’s hope it’s the first of many new precedents that will radically shift the understanding of faith in our public life.

COLUMN BY

Robert Royal

Dr. Robert Royal is editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing, president of the Faith & Reason Institute in Washington, D.C., and currently serves as the St. John Henry Newman Visiting Chair in Catholic Studies at Thomas More College. His most recent books are Columbus and the Crisis of the West and A Deeper Vision: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition in the Twentieth Century.

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

How Missouri became the first abortion-free state in the U.S.

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Grassroots action over decades has borne fruit.

Although the pro-life movement has faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision illegalizing abortion in the U.S., the movement continues to make legal and cultural gains.

This is one of the latest.

In July 2019, I wrote the blog “The Last Planned Parenthood Clinic in Missouri Again Evades Closure” about how the lone Planned Parenthood clinic in my home state of Missouri received multiple court-ordered reprieves from closure after the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) decided not to renew the facility’s license because of dozens of serious health and safety violations.

Public records showed numerous problems at the clinic, including unreported failed abortions, life threatening complications, an illegal abortion at 21 weeks, insufficient supervision of medical residents (students) performing abortions, and inaccurate medical records, among the many other violations.

Yet the St. Louis abortion clinic continued to get court-ordered reprieves.

But this month, Operation Rescue confirmed that now no abortions have been performed there for months.  Instead, all abortion appointments are now being referred to the Fairview Heights Planned Parenthood facility across the Mississippi River in Illinois.

How could this happen?

While Missouri has long been a strongly pro-life state with legislation like the 2019 “Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act” and many active pro-life organisations, Defenders of the Unborn president Mary Maschmeier, who has led a peaceful, prayerful and life-saving ministry outside the St. Louis Planned Parenthood clinic for many years, wrote an email also giving credit to the:

“ordinary citizens who would not take no for an answer. Who persevered day after day, year after year, decade after decade. Ever present on the front lines. In the streets. In the halls of our state legislature. Sidewalk counseling. Prayer warriors… Manning pregnancy aid centers. Staffing ultrasound vans. Rain, snow, heat, cold — ever vigilant.”

Mary also wrote,

“We will not stop until the that unjust practice is banished from our land and encourage our fellow citizens to end abortion in their respective states.”

Conclusion

In 1989, I had just started working as an RN on an oncology (cancer) unit when we discovered that one of our patients had CMV (Cytomegalovirus).

One of our nurses was pregnant and tested positive for the virus. Her doctor told her how her baby could die or have terrible birth defects from the virus, and he recommended an abortion.

“Sue” (not her real name) was frantic. She had two little girls and worked full-time. She said she didn’t know how she could manage a child with serious birth defects.

I told her that it was usually impossible to know if or how much a baby might be impaired before birth. I also told her about my Karen who was born with Down Syndrome and a critical heart defect and died at 5 months. I told her that I treasured the time I had with her and later babysat children with a range of physical and mental difficulties. Most importantly, I also told her that I would be there to help her and her baby.

“Sue” decided against abortion and told the other nurses what I said.

The other nurses were furious with me and said if the baby was born with so much as an extra toe, they would never talk to me again.

But slowly, the other nurses came around and also offered to help Sue and her baby.

In the end, we all celebrated when Sue had her first son, who was perfectly healthy!

My point is that what many people don’t understand is that pro-life doesn’t mean just being against abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. What being pro-life really means is truly caring about all lives, born or unborn.

The article has been republished with permission from Nancy Valko’s blog.

COLUMN BY

Nancy Valko

I have been a registered nurse since 1969 and currently I am a spokesperson for the National Association of Prolife Nurses (www.nursesforlife.org). I have also been a past President of Missouri Nurses… More by Nancy Valko.

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

Muslim U.S. Army Soldier Arrested over Plot to Bomb U.S. troops and Commit Jihad Massacre at 9/11 Memorial

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Yet another convert to Islam gets the crazy idea that his new religion commands him to commit treason and mass murder. Are authorities investigating who taught him Islam, and what kind of influence they have? Why not?

“‘Islamic State-inspired’ US soldier arrested over alleged plot to bomb American troops and attack NYC 9/11 Memorial,” RT, January 19, 2021 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

An American soldier has been arrested on terrorism charges, including suggesting wiring explosives into buildings as part of an Islamic State plot to kill US troops, as well as allegedly planning an attack on the 9/11 Memorial.

Ohio man Cole James Bridges, 20, was held in Georgia on Tuesday, and is charged with the assistance of a foreign terrorist organization and the attempted murder of US military service members, the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

The private first class, also known as Cole Gonzales, had expressed his support for the terrorist Islamic State group (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) on social media, according to the criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in Manhattan Federal Court.

After joining the US Army in late 2019, Bridges began unknowingly communicating with a member of the FBI in October last year, with the bureau employee posing as an IS supporter who claimed to be in touch with the terrorist group in the Middle East.

The soldier is then said to have used his army training to guide supposed IS fighters about potential attacks in New York City, including on the 9/11 Memorial.

In December 2020, Bridges allegedly provided diagrams of “specific military maneuvers” to help IS fighters “maximize the lethality of attacks on US troops” while also pledging his allegiance to the terrorist group in videos. He suggested militants should wire particular buildings with explosives in order to kill American troops, the charges claim….

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

Iran-Backed Militia Offers Help to U.S. ‘Liberation Movements’

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Abu Ali al-Askari, military commander of the Hezbollah Brigades (Kata’ib Hezbollah), an Iran-backed Shi’ite militia operating in Iraq, announced Wednesday that “the advisors of the Islamic resistance” were ready to train “the liberation movements” within the United States. It’s an offer that some in the United States might take seriously.

Al-Askari wrote: “In the name of [Allah] Almighty, the security advisors of the Islamic resistance stand ready to offer counsel and direct and indirect training to liberation movements within the Non-United States of America, with special locations being secured for that purpose.” His offer comes in the wake of several indications that leftists and Islamic supremacists are already making common cause.

The nationwide riots over the murder of George Floyd last summer provided new insight into the unholy alliance between the two groups. Zahra Billoo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area office of the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), recently tweeted: “Non-Black POC, first and second-generation immigrant Muslims friends in particular, what are you doing today to support #BlackLivesMatter?” Imraan Siddiqi of CAIR-Arizona tweeted out a video of a hijab-wearing Muslim woman kicking a tear gas canister toward police with the approving comment, “Drop-kick that tear-gas canister, sister.”

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, rioters were so upset over Floyd’s death that they spray-painted “Free Palestine” on the wall of a synagogue. And in New York City, a Muslim housing attorney is in legal trouble for tossing a Molotov cocktail into the backseat of an NYPD cruiser during the Floyd riots. She is also a committed activist for the Palestinian jihad, having published agitprop spreading false claims of Palestinian victimhood.

Despite the hot water Urooj Rahman finds herself in now, however, she has a bright future as an ideological leader of both the Left and the Islamic jihad. In an interview before her attack, she enunciated the common goal of both movements: “This s–t won’t ever stop unless we f—kin’ take it all down.

In both the interview and during her attack, Rahman kept a Palestinian keffiyeh close to her face. Her sartorial choice was not incidental. With her attempted torching of the police cruiser (her Molotov cocktail didn’t light), she brought Palestinian jihad tactics to the riots in America. She also revealed the congruence between the ideology of the American Left and that of jihadists—not just the Palestinians, but all over the world.

Regarding Israel, the goal of the Palestinian jihad is and always has been to “f—kin’ take it all down.” That is the meaning of the increasingly common slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.” If “Palestine” must be “free” from the Jordan River all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, the Palestinian cause is not about ending “occupation,” or stopping “settlements,” or anything that the establishment media says it is. It is, rather, about destroying Israel altogether, as The Palestinian Delusion documents in detail. Until that goal is attained, as Urooj Rahman elegantly put it, “This s–t won’t ever stop.”

This is not a new idea. The 12th-century Maliki jurist Ibn Rushd stated: “Muslim jurists agreed that the purpose of fighting with the People of the Book . . . is one of two things: it is either their conversion to Islam or the payment of jizyah.” Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, assistant professor on the faculty of Shari’ah and Law of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, says that Ibn Rushd “leaves no doubt that the primary goal of the Muslim community, in the eyes of its jurists, is to spread the word of Allah through jihad, and the option of poll-tax [jizya] is to be exercised only after subjugation” of non-Muslims.

Or here again, “This s–t won’t ever stop unless we f—kin’ take it all down.”

Meanwhile, the Left’s anti-Americanism, and determination to “f—kin’ take it all down,” has been on abundant display in last year’s riots, and continues, to the apparent delight of Muslims such as Abu Ali al-Askari, to say nothing of Urooj Rahman, Zahra Billoo, and Imraan Siddiqi.

When she was arrested, Rahman was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan “THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES REGARDLESS.” The Arabic word for “struggle” is, of course, jihad.

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

VIDEO: The Vortex — The Commies Are Coming. Do you understand the full weight of it?

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TRANSCRIPT

Church Militant (a 501(c)4 corporation) is responsible for the content of this commentary.

No doubt about it — the communists are coming. And depending on how you do your calculations, they’re already here. As a matter of review, it’s important to remember that all we see playing out before us is the result of a massive betrayal of those we trusted to preserve and pass on a free society.

Renowned author and historian Trevor Louden recently spoke with Church Militant about this whole scene. Louden and others, including Church Militant, are continually stressing the need to recognize that what’s happening is the result of decades of a communist takeover, moving slowly and stealthily at first, but now feeling free to be more open and plain in their goals.

And while we were all on guard and keenly aware of the threat posed by Russia, too many were willing to give China a pass and even hop in the political bed with them, tipping the scales of world dominance heavily toward Beijing. In fact, China’s influence has grown so strong over the United States — even members of Congress — that Beijing controls much of what happens in the United States regarding laws.

What believers must recognize sooner rather than later is that communism is here, and it hates religion, most especially Christianity and, in particular, Catholicism. Remember, it was Theodore McCarrick, quietly trained by Soviets in his young years in Switzerland, who returned to New York and entered the seminary, climbing the ranks of power with payoffs — money (millions of dollars) given to him by the Soviets, according to our sources. As what amounts to little else than a communist spy in the Church, McCarrick was the single man anointed by Pope Francis who hammered out the Vatican-China accord, throwing the underground Church in China under the bus.

Simply stated, McCarrick was one of them — is one of them. And they hate the Church. There’s a lot of evidence to support Louden’s predictions. A large number of prominent Democrats (stretching back to Obama in 2008) are already on the record stating their disdain for religion, in general, and conservative, religious-minded people, specifically.

Whether it’s Obama, Hillary, Harris or any others from the rogues’ gallery, these are the leaders of the communist movement in America. To fully comprehend the current political scene, nothing can be viewed in isolation. All of it is interrelated.

The censoring by giant tech, the political rhetoric from the Democrats, the media controlling the narrative, accusing conservatives of being traitors, the theater of an impeachment to so smear Trump that his supporters are reviled, all of it — every last bit of it — is related. And there is one goal in mind — to keep any significant resistance from forming before the demonizing of conservatives can take serious hold.

So the race is on. Can conservatives, with all their various disagreements, form any kind of effective opposition to the storm about to break? Louden says that it all depends.

Of course, for Catholics, there is a higher calling than just preserving a nation. We are called to convert the nation. For Catholics, political conservatism is and always should be viewed as a mere means to the end of producing a more favorable environment in which effective evangelization can be conducted.

The reason the communist bastards always have the destruction of the Church so high on their list is that they recognize the power the Church holds. Since they don’t believe in God, they never weigh the spiritual might, but they nevertheless do understand history and can do the math. The Church has been around much longer than they have, and it will be around after they’ve gone.

It won’t be the first time an evil empire has had the upper hand and wielded a sword over our heads, and unless all this is the setup for the end of the world, it won’t be the last. But still, this is the time in which we are living, not 2,000 years ago and not 500 years in the future. This is our time, and we must respond accordingly.

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

Biden names lead US negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal to be deputy secretary of state

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The multiply-failed establishment is back in the saddle. The Iran nuclear deal was one of the most disastrous agreements ever entered into by any American administration. Get the details in The Complete Infidel’s Guide to Iran.

“Iran deal architect among veterans named for Biden State Department,” AFP, January 16, 2021 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

The lead US negotiator of the Iran nuclear accord and a battle-tested hawk on Russia were named Saturday to top posts in President-elect Joe Biden’s State Department, signaling a return to a more traditional, multilateral approach after Donald Trump’s chaotic presidency.

Wendy Sherman, who brokered the Iran accord under Barack Obama and negotiated a nuclear deal with North Korea under Bill Clinton, was named as deputy secretary of state.

Victoria Nuland, a former career diplomat best known for her robust support for Ukrainian protesters seeking the ouster of a Russian-aligned president, was nominated undersecretary for political affairs — the State Department’s third-ranking post, in charge of day-to-day US diplomacy.

Biden said that the State Department nominees “have secured some of the most defining national security and diplomatic achievements in recent memory.”

“I am confident that they will use their diplomatic experience and skill to restore America’s global and moral leadership. America is back,” Biden said in a statement.

The State Department team will work with secretary of state-designate Antony Blinken, whose confirmation hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, on the eve of Biden’s inauguration.

“America at its best still has a greater capacity than any other country on Earth to mobilize others to meet the challenges of our time,” Blinken said.

The optimism comes amid rising doubts about US leadership in Trump’s waning days after his supporters ransacked the Capitol on January 6 to try to stop the ceremonial certification of Biden’s victory.

In a sign of the Biden administration’s priorities, veteran diplomat Uzra Zeya was named undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights — a position that went vacant, except for officials in acting capacity, for Trump’s full four years.

Among the most visible posts, the spokesperson for the State Department will be Ned Price, a CIA veteran who made waves in February 2017 when he said he could not in good conscience serve under Trump.

Price, a former spokesman for the National Security Council, is expected to resume daily televised briefings, a onetime fixture of US diplomacy that came to a halt under Trump….

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

Paypal BLOCKS Christian Crowdfunding Site GiveSendGo

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The US is imploding…..

Paypal says it blocked Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo

Digital payments processor confirms account closed for event organizer Ali Alexander, report says

Paypal says it blocked Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo
Digital payments processor confirms account closed for event organizer Ali Alexander, report says

By Kanishka Singh, Reuters, January 17, 2021:

PayPal Holdings Inc said on Monday it has blocked the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo after it helped raise funds for people who attended last week’s event in Washington when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.

The digital payments processor also confirmed to Reuters that it closed an account held by Ali Alexander, one of the organizers of the gathering. The news was reported earlier by Bloomberg, which cited an unnamed source.

Supporters of Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, trying halt the certification by Congress of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory.

PayPal Holdings Inc said on Monday it has blocked the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo after it helped raise funds for people who attended last week’s event in Washington when supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.
Trump, who has without evidence challenged the validity of Biden’s election win, initially praised his supporters but later condemned the violence.

Bloomberg reported last week that PayPal had closed an account held by Joy In Liberty, one of the groups that paid for supporters of Trump to travel to Washington where mobs stormed the Capitol.

Representatives of GiveSendGo, which describes itself as “A place to fund hope. A place to work together with the body of Christ around the world to make a difference,” could not be reached immediately for comment.

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. Quick note: Tech giants are snuffing us out. You know this. Facebook, Twitter, Google et al have shadowbanned, suspended and in some cases deleted us from your news feeds. They are disappearing us. But we are here. Subscribe to Geller Report newsletter here— it’s free and it’s critical NOW more than ever.

What Every American Needs Most Now Is GODfidence!

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GODfidence: the unwavering belief that one can rely on God; a firm trust in the grace of God. A faithful belief that God is always with you no matter your current circumstance or situation.

I have been approached by many people of faith and they ask:

What can I do now that our elected leaders, government and judicial system have failed us?

MY ANSWER: You must believe in Him! You must have GODfidence!

I get my strength from the Holy Bible.

I think about the day that Moses died and how the chosen people felt without their leader who lead them out of slavery in Egypt under the pharaoh. When they reached the edge of their promised land they lost Moses and wondered what will happen now! They then wandered in despair into the desert for 40 years until God spoke to Joshua and told him to lead His people back to the promised land. The land that God promised them. They and Joshua then knew that God always keeps His promises.

As it is written in Joshua 1:9,

9 Have I not commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

I think about what the disciples of Jesus Christ must have felt as they watched him die on the cross. With his death their dreams and hope that He would free them from the tyranny of Imperial Roman were gone, they thought forever.

All of the disciples were in deep despair as the bloodied body of Jesus was taken down from the cross at Calvary and carried away to a tomb that awaited His earthly remains.

The disciples felt lost, alone, afraid and with a feeling of hopelessness as they stood with beside His mother Mary.

Many of them fled thinking that they would suffer the same fate, which history tells us all did but one.

However, on the third day after Jesus died on the cross he arose and this is chronicled in the Holy Bible in Mark 16: 1-20,

¹The Sabbath day ended. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices. They were going to use them for Jesus’ body. 

2 Very early on the first day of the week, they were on their way to the tomb. It was just after sunrise. 

3 They asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb?”

4 Then they looked up and saw that the stone had been rolled away. The stone was very large. 

5 They entered the tomb. As they did, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe. He was sitting on the right side. They were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. But he has risen! He is not here! See the place where they had put him. 

7 Go! Tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. It will be just as he told you.’ ”

8 The women were shaking and confused. They went out and ran away from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

9 Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. He had driven seven demons out of her. 

10 She went and told those who had been with him. She found them crying. They were very sad. 

11 They heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him. But they did not believe it.

12 After that, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them. This happened while they were walking out in the country. 

13 The two returned and told the others about it. But the others did not believe them either.

14 Later Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples as they were eating. He spoke firmly to them because they had no faith. They would not believe those who had seen him after he rose from the dead.

15 He said to them, “Go into all the world. Preach the good news to everyone. 

16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who does not believe will be punished. 

17 Here are the miraculous signs that those who believe will do. In my name they will drive out demons. They will speak in languages they had not known before. 

18 They will pick up snakes with their hands. And when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all. They will place their hands on sick people. And the people will get well.”

19 When the Lord Jesus finished speaking to them, he was taken up into heaven. He sat down at the right hand of God. 

20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere. The Lord worked with them. And he backed up his word by the signs that went with it.

God gave us His Son to be our Lord, Redeemer and Savior.

What America and every American now needs is GODfidence. Trust in Him for He will never forsake you.

Unlike the earthly leaders, He can be trusted always.

Take heart. Never give up. Like the disciples never surrender. Go into all the world. Preach the good news to everyone.

Be strong, be courageous because God is with you

©Dr. Rich Swier. All rights reserved.

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