Posted on 11/09/2006 7:47:56 PM PST by little jeremiah
In the Old Testament of the Bible, God is shown time after time chastising the House of Israel, His chosen but often disobedient people, by allowing barbarians to invade and plunder their cities and put many of them to the sword.
That is what the Western World, including America, is starting to experience today, having likewise turned away from God.
This raging conflict between Islam and the West, this "clash of civilizations" that many are calling World War III, is at root a spiritual war.
It's been said that it takes a religion to fight a religion. More precisely, it takes true faith to defeat a false one. And by true faith I don't mean a set of rules, rituals and doctrine in a book, any book. I mean a genuine personal relationship with the one true God, and a nation of such people who follow the laws of conscience that same God planted in each of their hearts.
What is the answer to the burgeoning threat of Islamic jihad? The simple and terrifying bottom-line answer is that there is no answer unless America finally awakens and gives up its insane rebellion against its own founding faith and values.
We're fond of praising our World War II-era forbearers who won that terrible conflict with another form of demon-possessed, expansionist fascism. But the "Greatest Generation" was different from this generation. It believed in God.
Come again? You say we also believe in God today? No, we don't – not as a nation.
The World War II generation believed in God. They believed that this God was the God of the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. They believed He created us in His image and that human life was therefore sacred, which meant we don't slaughter our offspring in the womb nor kill off our parents when they get old and sick. They believed in biblical morality when it comes to sex, which meant homosexuality, adultery and "shacking up" were sinful and wrong.
And they also believed God had uniquely blessed the United States of America, something Alexis de Tocqueville called "American Exceptionalism" – the conviction that America's enlightened Constitution, industrial and military might, unprecedented standard of living, and most of all its legendary liberty were the direct result of the Almighty's blessing on this special nation. Implicit in that belief was the understanding that, just as with ancient Israel, this divine spigot flowing with undeserved blessings could and would be turned off if we turned away from God.
Thus it was the "Greatest Generation's" national unity, based on its widespread cultural and religious fidelity to those core truths – what we call "Judeo-Christian values" – that gave them the confidence to fight and persevere and win the world war that confronted them, whatever sacrifices that effort required.
Today, America and Europe are being transformed by Islam because there is a spiritual vacuum in these once-Christian lands. Especially in Britain and Europe, where the Islamic invasion is already well advanced, analysts concede it's simply a matter of time before some of these nations have Muslim majorities. Then comes Shariah law and the total transformation of these formerly Christian countries into repressive Islamic states.
Think I'm exaggerating? The Netherlands' justice minister, Piet Hein Donner, recently announced he would let Shariah law take over his European nation – already rapidly filling up with Muslims – if the majority votes for it. Just as in other Arab-Muslim countries currently under this strict Islamic legal system, European nations under Shariah might well see amputations – as prescribed in the Quran – as punishment for certain crimes; women publicly flogged and sometimes hanged or stoned to death for adultery or other so-called "crimes against chastity"; and death sentences for leaving the Muslim religion, or even for preaching Christianity, as occurs in Pakistan under its notorious "blasphemy laws."
All the vain, prideful fantasies of the post-Christian, secular, multiculturalism-worshipping Europeans are crashing down around them. The French are so terrified of the Muslims that comprise 10 percent of their population that Parisian police won't even venture into Muslim communities on the outskirts of the capital city. Having traded the Christian faith of their fathers for the smug, self-righteous ecstasy of the socialist welfare state, they have no spiritual strength left with which to fight back the invading hordes.
What about America? Though the percentage of Muslims in this huge nation is much lower than in Europe, radical Islam already has a powerful foothold in many parts of American society. Beyond the obvious signs – like the rapid proliferation within the U.S. of Saudi-funded mosques, Islamic centers and schools teaching discontent and even hatred for America – consider just one of the many less-than-obvious "growth areas": our prison system.
"Muslim chaplains have established an Islamic radical regime over Muslim convicts in the American prisons," writes Stephen Schwartz in "Islam in the Big House." "Radical Muslim chaplains, trained in a foreign ideology, certified in foreign-financed schools, and acting in coordination to impose an extremist agenda have gained a monopoly over Islamic religious activities in American state, federal and city prisons and jails." He adds, chillingly, "Imagine each prison Islamic community as a little Saudi kingdom behind prison walls, without the amenities. They have effectively induced American authorities to establish a form of 'state Islam' or 'government-certified Islam' in correctional systems."
Will this nightmare ever end? It will only end, like all nightmares end, when we wake up.
We need to wake up and remember who we really are. We need to realize the bottom-line reality that man is a spiritual creature, and that he will have faith, one way or the other. If he doesn't embrace true faith, he will embrace false faith. It's not only automatic – it's God-ordained.
The most poignant scene in the film "United 93" – chronicling the events leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, crash of the ill-fated jetliner into a Pennsylvania field – came toward the end when both passengers and terrorists were depicted as praying. It was just before the courageous group of passengers launched their revolt against the hijackers, and several were seen quietly, fervently reciting the Lord's Prayer, as though they were asking God for the superhuman strength and focus they would need to overpower the terrorists while facing almost-certain death. At the same time, the terrorist pilot, having been warned that a passenger rebellion was imminent, was also praying to his god, begging Allah for help and strength to prevail against great odds. The image of these two mortal enemies, each praying to his god for victory, was electrifying – a perfect distillation of the conflict into which we have been plunged.
We can't – and won't – win this war without God. He knows when and where the next big terror attack is being planned against America. He knows where bin Laden is hiding. Only He can give us the unearthly wisdom and strength required to be longsuffering and merciful when restraint is called for – and to be merciless when outright, heart-stopping, shock-and-awe devastation is called for to defeat the enemy. Most of all, only genuine fidelity to God will give us the gift of true righteousness – an otherworldly quality that terrifies the wicked, inspires the decent and mysteriously delivers victory into the hands of His people.
When God withheld His protection from ancient Israel because of the disobedience and faithlessness of His people, there was only one possible solution: They had to repent of their pride and folly and come back to Him.
Do we somehow expect the Almighty to grant a different remedy to us?
"Don't know if it's the same one, but I have heard one, too. No, he's not the 1st for me, either, but there's a ring of truth that echoes."
I wonder at times what the folks who actually heard St. John the Baptist thought about him and his message. I imagine most of those who heard him ignored him. But there would have been some who listened and sensed the Truth of what he was saying.
"How can anyone disagree with this?"
I can't. I've thought this all along, but David Kupelian states it more eloquently and succinctly, being the clear-visioned, dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ that he is. And a good writer, because he organizes his data so well and then states it in fluent English, something not as common as one might suppose these days.
I think he's a watchman on the wall. He certainly sounded the alarm in "The Marketing Of Evil"!
Those who know God and love Him believe whom he sends. "My sheep know my voice, and another will they not follow".
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" Well the evil behind the idiot bastard BinLaden is China and Russia the Islamists are useful idiots for now easily dealt with later the Iraq thing is emboldening the Reds. Because we dont have leaders who will kill the enemy in totality, Americans are to soft for the dirty job ahead. "
You are absolutely correct, and so is David Kupelian. The key culprit in failing to kill the enemy (and also in the recent elections) is the mainstream press or media. They have misinformed the public to the point they are making very bad choices.
America has fluctuated towards and away from God. The nineteenth century began in revival that generated millions of people determined to live Godly lives. It all began to dissolve as we moved into the twentieth century. A depression and two world wars adjusted our attitude. More revival, then that subsided and the hippie/Marxist tide came in. Now it's abetted by the false religion of the bloodthirsty Muslims; just as God raised up the Chaldeans to deal with the rebellious Jews of the OT, so he has raised up al Qaeda and refused to let us find their leader.
We're tearing babies apart by the million, making big bucks off of pornography and revelling in gross materialism and consumption, until the Spirit is all but choked off. David Kupelian tells it as it is.
See, this is the problem covered in the article. Christianity has been referred to so far in these posts as a supersitition and a neurosis. Why and when did we as a people buy into these dwarfed definitions of the best thing that has happened to the world?
Good article... but re-read the article and you'll see HOW...
"Why and when did we as a people buy into these dwarfed definitions of the best thing that has happened to the world?"
It's been happening for awhile. I think it started in the U.S. in the 1920's and has been continuing more or less ever since.
Good article bump.
Some people like to think that Judeo-Christina values are somehow sectarian, or promoting specific religions at the cost of others. This is just not true.
The basic moral foundation of every monotheist religion is essentially the same, and if Judeo-Christian belief and morality is jettisoned, this puts every single religious believer of any path in danger.
Joshua 10 13-14
And before you tell me that is just a figure of speech, it is part of the reason Galilleo was threatened with death when he tried to point out that it was the earth that went around the sun.
"As an aside: do you dismiss the morality of the Bible as well? If so, does that mean that the rest of us owe you no moral duty whatsoever?"
Do you, for even a moment, think that the morality of the bible is original with the bible? Many many codes earlier than the bible outlawed murder, theft, lying and infidelity. Honoring one's parents certainly wasn't a new idea when someone wrote it down in the bible.
I don't need the threat of hell or the promise of heaven to be moral and I certainly don't need the supposed authority of a mythological creation to be moral.
Please define the difference between any religion and superstition
fool
its far more than a book
you will probably soon find out
its far more than a book
you will probably soon find out
21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Matthew 5:21-22
Maybe you'll find out first.
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