Woolwich Murder not the first!

It seems that the brutal butchering of Drummer Lee Rigby was not the first of such attacks. It may only be the first that could not be suppressed. Even now our leaders our trying to convince us that this was not Islamist Terror attack.

The Rev. Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, begs to differ and provides an account of a murder in 1995, yes you read it correctly, 1995! Such was the efficiency of the suppression that one of the suspects was later arrested and jailed, in 2006, for trying to buy missiles to shoot down airliners in the wake of the 7/7 attacks.

He goes on to document the wanton blindness of US and UK governments in ignoring the ideological roots of this violence.  You can read the full article here. Don't ignore this, it has to be shared or they will never change.

Some people get it and some just don't.

Reading through 'The Telegraph' online, I found six articles that I think are of interest. Four of them are perceptive and, in my opinion, understand the problems facing us all. The other two are liberal nonsense.

The nonsense first.

Mehdi Hasan has penned an opinion piece that defends Islam as not being responsible for terror. He quotes a briefing piece from MI5. This is the same MI5 that missed the suspects. Possibly not the best authority to quote.

Near the end of his article Mr. Hasan writes. "Few want to discuss the role of British foreign policy in helping to radicalise these young, disaffected individuals" This is not a mile away form Michael Adebolajo's attempt to justify his part in the murder of  Drummer Lee Rigby.

I'm not suggesting that Mr. Hasan is justifying violence, only that he does not understand the realities. He shares the same misguided worldview of the deluded, brainwashed and drug addicted Micheal Adebolajo.

Christina Odone, who often writes sensibly, has been taken in by the, self-proclaimed, Muslim Council of Britain. It's mostly wishful thinking. She should read my previous post on Islamic Reformation. The first paragraph should put her right.

Now for the sanity.

Daniel Taub, Israeli Ambassador to the UK , writes that a boycott of Israel will not bring peace closer. It's worth remembering that the UK's somewhat qualified support for Israel is part of the Islamic grievance.

Film-maker Robb Leach writes about his encounter with Islamism in his own family. Anjem Choudary, surprise,surprise, figures prominently.

Con Coughlin, not my favourite - I usually find myself disagreeing with him, shows that this time he gets it. He argues, quite persuasively, that the West has fought for the ordinary Muslim.

Finally, Alan Johnson has decided that we need to talk about Islamism - don't we just! He understands as this quote shows:

Religions, in other words, can't just be analysed as barely distinguishable forms of the same impulse, as if we were all in an A Level Religion class. They have radically specific contents, unique and conditioning histories, and those differences matter profoundly when they bump up against the secular world.

He really gets it!

Do we need an Islamic Reformation?

After the terrible events in Boston (USA) and Woolwich (UK) , many Islamic organisations have united in condemning the attack. Forgive me for being cynical, but in the bad old days of the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland, Rome and the USA would routinely condemn the SinnFein/IRA/Noraid atrocities, but the terrorists were never handed over.

Islamism, radical Islam or whatever you chose to call it is the unacceptable face of Islam. There are those who call for a reformation. After all, it did a lot of good for the Christian Church (I'll deal with the antisemitism in a series I'm planning for later). For the most part, the reformers were a peaceable crew. Yes, there were some Roman Catholic martyrs and that was wrong, but a body count will prove my point. In due course, the Protestant Church abandoned force and subsequently the Roman Church has. The other denominations also followed suit.

Could this be a model for Islam?

I used to teach religion in schools. (Reminder to US readers, this is a UK blog). On one occasion, some 25 years ago, I taught Islam to muslims using Islamic source material. That way, when we did Christianity, we could use the Bible and not refer to the Qur'an. They were great kids, genuinely interested in religion. I used to have to throw them out of the classroom at the end of the lesson! They were determined to prove me wrong and used the writings of one Ahmed Deedat to try to do it. A complete failure, Deedat, his writings and their efforts.

I used to plant thought bombs. Little ideas and questions that if followed through logically would completely undermine their worldview. I couldn't evangelise but I could try to make them think.

As I taught the subject, I realised that a clash between Islam and the West was inevitable. Sooner or later we would have to fight, not because the West wanted to but because it's at the heart of Islam. Park that for a moment and let's look at the Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation, was a back to the Bible, back to basics movement. Jesus was rediscovered by the masses and the core doctrines of salvation by grace through faith in the risen, crucified Lord Jesus Christ were preached and believed. In other words, the gospel as proclaimed by Jesus and His Jewish Apostles right at the start of the Church.

Now let us apply that model to other faiths.

It doesn't work for Hinduism as there is no agreed founder and a massive set of writings.

In Buddhism, you will discover that Siddartha Gotama wasn't really interested in this world or God.

Sikhism, which is a lot like Judaism, takes you back to a peaceable founder and a reasonable ethic, but no clear plan of salvation.
Judaism takes you back to Moses, to the Torah and the Tenach, to God's clear commandments and the hope of the Messiah.

Islam takes you back to Mohammad, the Qur'an and the unknowable Allah.

If you want to judge a religion, start with its founders. (Goodson's law of Comparative Religion - don't google it. You found it here)

Hinduism - no deal. Buddhism - traumatised youth leaves his wife and family and gets enlightenment after nearly starving to death.  Sikhism - Guru Nanak, a good man and peaceable. I wish he had encountered Jesus. Judaism - Moses. The meekest man who ever lived.God's friend.

Christianity - Jesus. See also Who killed Jesus? Murder or Suicide?

GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS

Islam - Mohammed. Go and read their own accounts. 

A Reformation, in Islam, would be a back to basics, back to the Qur'an, back to following the example of Mohammed. 

Oh, we've got one.

We are in the middle of the Islamic Reformation...

And that's the problem.

See also my new post, "Built-in bias at the BBC"

Giving hasbara another boost - more on i24news

This looks to be very interesting. More as soon as they tell me more.

Bad Israel - was it ever any different?

It was and you will be surprised at my authority who says so.

Esteemed Blogger and friend of The Almond Rod, Daphne Anson, has just posted a long article , and well worth your time reading, on an organisation called CAABU (Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding). I was particularly taken with the words of one of its founders, one Christopher Mayhew, when he summarised how Israel was seen in 1974. I quote from Daphne's post below.

I'm drafting the next in my series on my journey in Christian Zionism. His summary, although from an opponent, is enlightening and shows that my memory of how things used to be is not faulty.

In the following words, Christopher Mayhew (1915-97; created a life peer as Baron Mayhew in 1981),a  Labour MP until 1974, and from then a Liberal, began a speech on 27 July 1977 in a committee room at Westminster to mark the tenth anniversary of CAABU's foundation. 

"Those who founded CAABU, at a meeting here in the House of Commons ten years ago, took on a formidable task - to challenge the deeply held beliefs about Palestine of the overwhelming majority of the British people.

An opinion poll just published by the Sunday Times had shown that only 2% of the British people supported the Arabs.  It was almost universally agreed that the 1967 war had been planned and started by the Arabs with Russian support; that the Arabs were racialists who aimed to drive the Jews into the sea; that the Palestinian refugees had left Israel in 1948 and should resettle elsewhere in the Arab world; that the refugee camps were kept in being by the Arab Governments as a political weapon against Israel; that Israel, a small country surrounded by numerous enemies, had no designs at all on Arab territory unless, reasonably enough, to secure her own security; and that, in general, after the appalling sufferings of the Jewish people, Israel was entitled, on moral, legal and historical grounds, to the wholehearted support of the civilised world.

To make things worse, these opinions were shared at that time by almost all newspaper proprietors and editors, almost all the directing staff of the BBC and ITV, almost all MPs, and almost the entire publishing and film industries.

They were also supported, with enthusiasm and sincerity, by the great bulk of Britain's large, lively and influential Jewish community, many of whose members were totally dedicated to Israel's cause and were willing to make great sacrifices of time and money to support it.'

Nazis in Israel.

We're all used to the claim that Israel has taken over the function of the Nazis in oppressing the poor down-trodden Palestinian but Israel Today has the pictorial proof of Nazis in Israel! Well, sort of...

The picture below was taken in Israel and south of Jerusalem.

 

It was taken in the Arab town of Beit Omar between Jerusalem and Hebron having been placed there by the residents. Israeli troops later removed it.

What matters is not the truth but the tug on the heart.

As I wrote in my piece 'The Big Lie, Madness and the Famous Eccles':

What matters is not the truth but the tug on the heart. 

Over at Honest Reporting, +Simon Plosker has written a piece on the results of an inquiry into the Al-Dura(Durrah) affair. 

Surprise! Surprise!  Al-Dura did not die in the 2000 shooting.

[Since my original post, the Daily Mail has picked up on the report . Don't read the comments unless you want to wallow in ignorance and antisemitism. A few brave souls have posted the truth and they are getting red arrows of disapproval.]

Below is HR's video about the shooting and the Committtee's report:

The France 2 Al-Durrah Report Its Consequences and Implications

 

They shoot horses don't they? Abortion begins to unravel

WND carries the following story in the wake of the Gosnell 'one-off' abortion scandal: 

http://www.biblestudytools.com/genesis/passage.aspx?q=genesis+4:10-12

Video included as an antidote and a comment to the horrors of abortion.

The Fall of the American Empire.

As I look at prophecy and seek to understand and interpret the signs of the times, I have been bothered by something which has bothered many who study the prophetic scriptures. Where is the USA in all this? The answer is 'nowhere' and the implications of that are overwhelming.

Recently, I have begun to be very concerned about the signals that are coming out of the USA. Quite frankly, I fear for the future of the American Empire. It is an empire, anything else with 50 states would be called an empire.

A recent poll revealed that some 29% of Americans think that some kind of armed revolution may be needed to get back rights. You read that correctly. 

The financial situation of some US states is so dire that if they were not part of the USA they would be like Greece or Italy.

It has now been legally established that voter fraud was used in 2008 to put the then Senator Barack Obama on the state ballot of Indiana. There are many other claims of voter fraud most of which have been denied by the mainstream media. This is the first one to be be proven in a court of law. Many others simply have not been investigated. Google it.

The US IRS (Tax Office) has admitted targeting opponents of President Obama and has recently been shown to have tried to force a Pro-Life charity to promote abortion!

The Obama administration is now alienating friendly mainstream press by spying on them (see here)

Over at Daphne Anson is a post of a video interview with former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton. He speaks about what is being called Benghazi-gate and on Israel's strikes on Syria. He also use the word 'impeachment'.

The lies over what happened at Benghazi are beginning to unravel. See here in a thoroughly researched article by Jerome Corsi and here which documents testimony under oath.

The Pentagon is persecuting Christians in the military including military chaplains.

Homeschoolers are being demonised as terrorists even though there is absolutely no evidence for that assumption.

Abortion clinics have been exposed as slaughterhouses. Finally an abortionist has been found guilty of murder. Innocent blood pollutes the land.

The mess in Syria gets worse (and the UK's Prime Minister David (call me Dave) Cameron isn't helping matters). If Walid and Theodore Shoebat are to be believed we should leave it alone ( this one is stomach-churning).

The calls for the impeachment of Obama grow ever louder. I think it will happen when the Democrats realise that he is an electoral liability. It will be the only way that they can 'clean' house.

Then there is the possible effect of various putative terrorist acts, as well as the devastating effect of a major earthquake caused by the San Andreas fault.

All of this could cause the USA to turn in on itself. Obama is not like Richard Nixon and his default position is to bow to Islam. 

Which brings me to 1973 and the Yom Kippur War. The Israelis were 50 miles from Cairo when President Brezhnev warned the embattled Nixon, in the middle of Watergate, that they were going to sort things out. A warship armed with nuclear warheads had docked in Alexandria, Egypt and Soviet paratroops were being mobilised. Nixon called a worldwide Stage Three alert which put 2,300,000 troops on standby for the first time since Cuba in 1962.The Russian had calculated that Nixon would delay just long enough for the Final Solution.

Lance Lambert in his book on the '73 War (Battle for Israel) documents the burden of prayer for Israel at that time in places he knew. I can attest to a similar burden of prayer for Richard Nixon at that time at the Bible College I attended. Some of us were puzzled by this and it wasn't until much later that I learned the reason which I have outlined above.

America's woes look like increasing; possibly even with a revival of Christianity. The British Empire, on which the sun never set, vanished at lightning speed. There is no law or covenant guaranteeing America's survival. Only Israel and the Church have such promises.

The niggle at the back of my mind, until now, is that a Fortress America turned isolationist by disaster or insurrection, or an embattled President facing impeachment, could cause Israel's enemies to think that they stand a chance of destroying Israel. A re-run, if you will, of 1973. It would be foolish, but they have rarely proved themselves wise.

Netanyahu's destruction of  WMDs in Syria makes perfect sense in the light of the above.

America can and will fall, in due course. Israel will survive, but suffering is far from ruled out.

I am minded of Christ's advice to the Church, "Watch and Pray" and of His ancestor David's advice, " Pray for the peace of Jerusalem".

More apartheid behaviour from racist Israel! Not.

IDF engineers have been active in the fields around Bethlehem. The birthplace of Jesus is now considered to be part of Arab Palestinian territory so what are Israeli troops doing deploying military equipment and troops so close to a civilian area and causing explosions? Israel Today has the answer.

It seems the IDF is finding and destroying Jordanian landmines with the object of clearing useful farmland and returning land to its rightful owners for the use of the village.

Is this a fiendishly clever and diabolical ruse to keep Israeli troops in the West Bank? Or could it be yet another example of Israel's desire to live in peace and harmony with its Arab neighbours?

You decide.

The prophet Ezekiel foresaw today's situation and wrote:

Ezekiel 47:21-23

²¹ “So you shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. ²² You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³ In whatever tribe the sojourner resides, there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.



English Standard Version (ESV)

St. Paul, Sinatra and the Sex Pistols.

Philippians 4:8 - 9.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you .

Below on the left, is the old smoothie singing 'My Way'. I hate the song and I am no fan of Sinatra. He makes it seem noble. People have it played at funerals! It sells people the acceptability of the lie that we can do it our way.

Using Paul's checklist, it gets a half a mark on superficial musicality and for technical quality (excellence?). It's the spoonful of sugar that hides the poison - and that's not lovely or excellent.

On the right are Sid Vicious and the Sex Pistols with their version. It starts with a painful spoof of Sinatra's style  and then morphs into an arrogant punk-rock version.

It certainly doesn't get any marks for beauty or excellence unless you like punk rock. However, it takes the gloves off; it strips off the veneer. It revels in its arrogance and pride. 

It actually tells the truth. This is what the lyrics of 'My Way' really mean. You wouldn't have this at a funeral unless you intended to defy God.

Paradoxically, it scores full marks on truth. And telling the truth is honourable and just, which is commendable. That makes it praiseworthy and to some degree even excellent.

Odd, isn't it? Such an unacceptable source can reveal a truth and such an acceptable source, at least  to many, is an outright lie.

Sadly, neither of these men, as far as we can tell, can be said to have done it Christ's Way.

St Paul again:

2 Timothy 4:6 - 8
⁶ For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Think about these things.

Archbishop Cranmer savages Church of Scotland report

The ever excellent Archbishop Cranmer has posted a scathing rebuttal of the 'theology' underlying a Church of Scotland report. The report recommends a theological position that states,

"Promises about the land of Israel were never intended to be taken literally, or as applying to a defined geographical territory. They are a way of speaking about how to live under God so that justice and peace reign, the weak and poor are protected, the stranger is included, and all have a share in the  community and a contribution to make to it. The ‘promised land’in the Bible is not a place, so much as a metaphor of how things ought to be among the people of God. This ‘promised land’ can be found – or built – anywhere."

  Cranmer clearly understands what I am trying to do here at The Almond Rod. To wit: demonstrate that a living faith in Jesus the Christ must accept that God's promises to Israel are essential to our understanding of Jesus as Messiah.

He cites an article in the Jewish Chronicle and also lists an extensive range of facts about the history of the Land. Cranmer's final paragraph reads as follows:

God promised Abraham that his descendants would have a land, and would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. Israel is a fulfilment of that promise. We thank the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for the restoration of the Jewish people to their land, because it was a promise that He would so. And if that was not a promise, then Jesus is not the long-promised Messiah, and our promised salvation is nullified in a myriad of meaningless metaphors.

Amen to that Your Grace, amen to that.

I nearly forgot. He precedes his report with a superbly ironic image from the days when the Church of Scotland was doctrinally sound and fervently Zionist.

It is the the motto of the Church of Scotland. The image is instantly recognisable as a representation of the Burning Bush and the Latin 'Nec tamen consumebatur' translates as 'Yet it was not consumed'.  If Moses hadn't believed God literally, the Israelites would still be in Egypt!

Israel is just a dream - or is it?

Daphne Anson cross-posted my previous post and, without apology, I am cross posting a video she got from one of her regular readers. 

It is clever, it is brilliant, it is inspirational, it is how the Lie works, and I love it. You'd never have guessed;-)

The Big Lie, madness and the famous Eccles.

Over at Daphne Anson's Blog is a piece on a lady who used to be my MP. She's a very likeable person, as far as I could tell from the few times I've met her. However, in my opinion, like a great many socialists, but not all, she's a sucker for a sob story. Enough of Clare Short, it was something else that is so mad you've got to laugh, if only sardonically.

After reading Daphne's piece, I got curious and looked up 'ElectronicIntifada'. It's on an illustration with the post with a quote from Steven Sizer. EI seem to believe that the BBC is now ruled by a cabal of hardline Zionists. If that is true, it's a revolution. Will we now see the Balen report? Somehow I doubt it.

As I looked through the Google links on EI, I found this at Uprooted Palestinian . It appears that this  believes that George Soros funds EI, which may or may not be true and, get this, that George Soros is part of the Zionist conspiracy. Yes, he states that EI are Israel's spokesman.

"The truth is that these Electronic people are Israel’s spokesmen."

We can judge the quality of his reportage from another, more recent post, on the Syrian genocide.

The piece is headed by a picture which has nothing to do with Syria but is of Mohammed al Durrah (Dura).

My link goes to an exhaustive Wikipedia piece which leaves the matter unresolved, wisely from their point of view, because it has been demonstrated that, if the boy died, he was never killed by Israeli bullets.

What matters is not the truth but the tug on the heart.

Behind both these websites is the allegation that a Zionist Cabal is at work. Now back to Stephen Sizer . His quote is a criticism of CUFI and includes a picture with the link 'Banging the Drums of War'.

The article he is linking to, by one Emily Warda (and also here ) contains some valid criticism of what is really US American culture and not Zionism, followed by assorted distortions, unsupported assertions about Christian Zionism, an exaggeration of CUFI's influence and finishing with the (unsupported) assertion that they are banging the drums of war. CUFI has some 1.3 million members but that is out of a population of nearly 316 million. That's 0.4% of the population. OK, let's make some allowances for age and call it nearly 1%. According to the leftist Salon.com the muslim population could range from less that 1 million to up to 10 million. This is typical of attempts to quantify Islam. Generally, most come out at 2 - 3 million. Allowing for age, it's about even. I doubt that all the CUFI supporters are rich, white and powerful.

Which brings me back to the madness. If Zionism, in all its forms, is so powerful why am I not the Archbishop of Canterbury; why is Stephen Sizer still a vicar; why did the Holocaust happen; why is Israel so small; why does Israel surrender land for peace...etc. etc.?

Ah, yes. That singularly unsuccessful Zionist plot to rule the world which is simultaneously rich, powerful, secret, diabolical... yawn. Where does this strange idea come from? Its a Big Lie. Goebbels practiced it. Paul predicted it http://bible.cc/2_thessalonians/2-11.htm .

Actually, the lie is a distortion of promises in the Tenach and in the New Testament. It's the argument over the nature of that distortion and how to interpret scripture that separates me, and others, from Sizer and his ilk.

The day when Israel will be pre-eminent among the nations only comes with the (return of) the Messiah. This will not be brought about by precipitating Armageddon (more about that some other time). It's the rage against God that leads to a rage against real Christianity and against the Jew (again more later).

It's God's fault. He chose someone. It could have been a Briton. If it had we would be fighting the French and others for a piece of  the British Isles. It would have been the same story with British names. Josh Davidson would have been born in the North of England and executed in London. And so on.

The Messiah had to be somewhere. Which brings me at last to that saner form of madness which is the Goon Show and the famous Eccles. 

Eccles, when trapped in a coal cellar and questioned on what he was doing there, replies "Everybody's got to be somewhere".

And therein is the problem. The Jews, and others, are allowed to be somewhere, just as long as it is somewhere else.

Iran, Jewish sorcery and the 'false god' Yahweh!

Jews and Christians alike will have problems watching this video if they have high blood pressure. In it a Saudi Cleric calls YHWH a false god. For his sake, I hope he did it out of ignorance. If he knowingly lied then his place in Hell is assured. I pray he was ignorant.

It also reiterates the blood libel. If it wasn't so serious we could laugh.

The video is part of an article in WND ( I know - they are a bit questionable, sometimes) where Iran accuses the Jews of sorcery!! OK, some Kabbalists go too far, but so do some Sufis, Christian mystics, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus etc. etc. It's an occupational hazard with mysticism. 

You wonder who believes this stuff, but there are witches who claim they used magic against Hitler to defend the UK. Honest Guv! When you wake up in the cold light of day with the mother and father of hangovers, you know this is wrong.

If anyone wanted evidence that Allah is not the God of Israel or of Jesus, now you have it.