Speech by Geert Wilders, the Netherlands

At the Religion Clause blog, we discussed Islam, Jerusalem and Palestine, and the present and future Europe. I wish I had had this speech at the time.

Here is the speech of Geert Wilders, Dutch member of parliament, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the Netherlands, at the Four Seasons, New York, introducing an Alliance of Patriots and announcing the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem. This was at a luncheon on September 25, 2008, sponsored by The Hudson Institute:

A couple of comments in brackets [ ] in the body of the speech are identified as mine, Barb's.
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Geert Wilders, chairman Party for Freedom, the Netherlands

Speech at the Four Seasons, New York

September 25, 2008

Dear friends,
Thank you very much for inviting me. Great to be at the Four Seasons. I come from a country that has one season only: a rainy season that starts January 1st and ends December 31st. When we have three sunny days in a row, the government declares a national emergency. So Four Seasons, that’s new to me....

...I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The danger I see looming is the scenario of America as the last man standing. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe. In a generation or two, the US will ask itself: who lost Europe? Patriots from around Europe risk their lives every day to prevent precisely this scenario form becoming a reality.

My short lecture consists of 4 parts.
First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe. Then, I will say a few things about Islam. Thirdly, if you are still here, I will talk a little bit about the movie you just saw. To close I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem.

The Europe you know is changing. You have probably seen the landmarks. The Eiffel Tower and Trafalgar Square and Rome’s ancient buildings and maybe the canals of Amsterdam. They are still there. And they still look very much the same as they did a hundred years ago.

But in all of these cities, sometimes a few blocks away from your tourist destination, there is another world, a world very few visitors see – and one that does not appear in your tourist guidebook. It is the world of the parallel society created by Muslim mass-migration. All throughout Europe a new reality is rising: entire Muslim neighbourhoods where very few indigenous people reside or are even seen. And if they are, they might regret it. This goes for the police as well. It’s the world of head scarves, where women walk around in figureless tents, with baby strollers and a group of children. Their husbands, or slaveholders if you prefer, walk three steps ahead. With mosques on many street corner. The shops have signs you and I cannot read. You will be hard-pressed to find any economic activity. These are Muslim ghettos controlled by religious fanatics. These are Muslim neighbourhoods, and they are mushrooming in every city across Europe. These are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, city by city.

There are now thousands of mosques throughout Europe. With larger congregations than there are in churches. And in every European city there are plans to build super-mosques that will dwarf every church in the region. Clearly, the signal is: we rule.
Many European cities are already one-quarter Muslim: just take Amsterdam, Marseille and Malmo in Sweden. In many cities the majority of the under-18 population is Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighbourhoods. Mohammed is the most popular name among boys in many cities. In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims. Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils. In once-tolerant Amsterdam gays are beaten up almost exclusively by Muslims. Non-Muslim women routinely hear “whore, whore”. Satellite dishes are not pointed to local TV stations, but to stations in the country of origin. In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot; the same is increasingly true of Darwin. [The only aspect of Islamization that I can believe in!] The history of the Holocaust can in many cases no longer be taught because of Muslim sensitivity.

In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. Many neighbourhoods in France are no-go areas for women without head scarves. Last week a man almost died after being beaten up by Muslims in Brussels, because he was drinking during the Ramadan. Jews are fleeing France in record numbers, on the run for the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II. French is now commonly spoken on the streets of Tel Aviv and Netanya, Israel. I could go on forever with stories like this. Stories about Islamization.

A total of fifty-four million Muslims now live in Europe. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.

Now these are just numbers. And the numbers would not be threatening if the Muslim-immigrants had a strong desire to assimilate. But there are few signs of that. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France. [Christians understand this, but our faith respects freedom of religion, equality of persons, women's rights, compassion in justice, etc.--Barb]

One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favour of a worldwide caliphate. A Dutch study reported that half of Dutch Muslims admit they “understand” the 9/11 attacks.

Muslims demand what they call ‘respect’. And this is how we give them respect. Our elites are willing to give in. To give up. In my own country we have gone from calls by one cabinet member to turn Muslim holidays into official state holidays, to statements by another cabinet member, that Islam is part of Dutch culture, to an affirmation by the Christian-Democratic attorney general that he is willing to accept sharia in the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority. We have cabinet members with passports from Morocco and Turkey.

Muslim demands are supported by unlawful behaviour, ranging from petty crimes and random violence, for example against ambulance workers and bus drivers, to small-scale riots. Paris has seen its uprising in the low-income suburbs, the banlieus. Some prefer to see these as isolated incidents, but I call it a Muslim intifada. I call the perpetrators “settlers”. Because that is what they are. They do not come to integrate into our societies, they come to integrate our society into their Dar-al-Islam. Therefore, they are settlers.

Much of this street violence I mentioned is directed exclusively against non-Muslims, forcing many native people to leave their neighbourhoods, their cities, their countries.

Politicians shy away from taking a stand against this creeping sharia. They believe in the equality of all cultures. Moreover, on a mundane level, Muslims are now a swing vote not to be ignored.

Our many problems with Islam cannot be explained by poverty, repression or the European colonial past, as the Left claims. Nor does it have anything to do with Palestinians or American troops in Iraq. The problem is Islam itself.
Allow me to give you a brief Islam 101. The first thing you need to know about Islam is the importance of the book of the Quran. The Quran is Allah’s personal word, revealed by an angel to Mohammed, the prophet. This is where the trouble starts. Every word in the Quran is Allah’s word and therefore not open to discussion or interpretation. It is valid for every Muslim and for all times. Therefore, there is no such a thing as moderate Islam. Sure, there are a lot of moderate Muslims. But a moderate Islam is non-existent.

The Quran calls for hatred, violence, submission, murder, and terrorism. The Quran calls for Muslims to kill non-Muslims, to terrorize non-Muslims and to fulfil their duty to wage war: violent jihad. Jihad is a duty for every Muslim, Islam is to rule the world – by the sword. The Quran is clearly anti-Semitic, describing Jews as monkeys and pigs.T

The second thing you need to know is the importance of Mohammed the prophet. His behaviour is an example to all Muslims and cannot be criticized. Now, if Mohammed had been a man of peace, let us say like Ghandi and Mother Theresa wrapped in one, there would be no problem. But Mohammed was a warlord, a mass murderer, a pedophile, and had several marriages – at the same time. Islamic tradition tells us how he fought in battles, how he had his enemies murdered and even had prisoners of war executed. Mohammed himself slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza. He advised on matters of slavery, but never advised to liberate slaves. Islam has no other morality than the advancement of Islam. If it is good for Islam, it is good. If it is bad for Islam, it is bad. There is no gray area or other side.
Quran as Allah’s own word and Mohammed as the perfect man are the two most important facets of Islam. Let no one fool you about Islam being a religion. Sure, it has a god, and a here-after, and 72 virgins. But in its essence Islam is a political ideology. It is a system that lays down detailed rules for society and the life of every person. Islam wants to dictate every aspect of life. Islam means ‘submission’. Islam is not compatible with freedom and democracy, because what it strives for is sharia. If you want to compare Islam to anything, compare it to communism or national-socialism, these are all totalitarian ideologies.

This is what you need to know about Islam, in order to understand what is going on in Europe. For millions of Muslims the Quran and the live of Mohammed are not 14 centuries old, but are an everyday reality, an ideal, that guide every aspect of their lives. Now you know why Winston Churchill called Islam “the most retrograde force in the world”, and why he compared Mein Kampf to the Quran.
Which brings me to my movie, Fitna.

I am a lawmaker, and not a movie maker. But I felt I had the moral duty to educate about Islam. The duty to make clear that the Quran stands at the heart of what some people call terrorism but is in reality jihad. I wanted to show that the problems of Islam are at the core of Islam, and do not belong to its fringes.
Now, from the day the plan for my movie was made public, it caused quite a stir, in the Netherlands and throughout Europe. First, there was a political storm, with government leaders, across the continent in sheer panic. The Netherlands was put under a heightened terror alert, because of possible attacks or a revolt by our Muslim population. The Dutch branch of the Islamic organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir declared that the Netherlands was due for an attack. Internationally, there was a series of incidents. The Taliban threatened to organize additional attacks against Dutch troops in Afghanistan, and a website linked to Al Qaeda published the message that I ought to be killed, while various muftis in the Middle East stated that I would be responsible for all the bloodshed after the screening of the movie. In Afghanistan and Pakistan the Dutch flag was burned on several occasions. Dolls representing me were also burned. The Indonesian President announced that I will never be admitted into Indonesia again, while the UN Secretary General and the European Union issued cowardly statements in the same vein as those made by the Dutch Government. I could go on and on. It was an absolute disgrace, a sell-out.
A plethora of legal troubles also followed, and have not ended yet. Currently the state of Jordan is litigating against me. Only last week there were renewed security agency reports about a heightened terror alert for the Netherlands because of Fitna.

Now, I would like to say a few things about Israel. Because, very soon, we will get together in its capitol. The best way for a politician in Europe to lose votes is to say something positive about Israel. The public has wholeheartedly accepted the Palestinian narrative, and sees Israel as the aggressor. I, however, will continue to speak up for Israel. I see defending Israel as a matter of principle. I have lived in this country and visited it dozens of times. I support Israel. First, because it is the Jewish homeland after two thousand years of exile up to and including Auschwitz, second because it is a democracy, and third because Israel is our first line of defense.

Samuel Huntington writes it so aptly: “Islam has bloody borders”. Israel is located precisely on that border. This tiny country is situated on the fault line of jihad, frustrating Islam’s territorial advance. Israel is facing the front lines of jihad, like Kashmir, Kosovo, the Philippines, Southern Thailand, Darfur in Sudan, Lebanon, and Aceh in Indonesia. Israel is simply in the way. The same way West-Berlin was during the Cold War.

The war against Israel is not a war against Israel. It is a war against the West. It is jihad. Israel is simply receiving the blows that are meant for all of us. If there would have been no Israel, Islamic imperialism would have found other venues to release its energy and its desire for conquest. Thanks to Israeli parents who send their children to the army and lay awake at night, parents in Europe and America can sleep well and dream, unaware of the dangers looming.

Many in Europe argue in favor of abandoning Israel in order to address the grievances of our Muslim minorities. But if Israel were, God forbid, to go down, it would not bring any solace to the West. It would not mean our Muslim minorities would all of a sudden change their behavior, and accept our values. On the contrary, the end of Israel would give enormous encouragement to the forces of Islam. They would, and rightly so, see the demise of Israel as proof that the West is weak, and doomed. The end of Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only the beginning. It would mean the start of the final battle for world domination. If they can get Israel, they can get everything. Therefore, it is not that the West has a stake in Israel. It is Israel.

It is very difficult to be an optimist in the face of the growing Islamization of Europe. All the tides are against us. On all fronts we are losing. Demographically the momentum is with Islam. Muslim immigration is even a source of pride within ruling liberal parties. Academia, the arts, the media, trade unions, the churches, the business world, the entire political establishment have all converted to the suicidal theory of multiculturalism. So-called journalists volunteer to label any and all critics of Islamization as a ‘right-wing extremists’ or ‘racists’. The entire establishment has sided with our enemy. Leftists, liberals and Christian-Democrats are now all in bed with Islam.
This is the most painful thing to see: the betrayal by our elites. At this moment in Europe’s history, our elites are supposed to lead us. To stand up for centuries of civilization. To defend our heritage. To honour our eternal Judeo-Christian values that made Europe what it is today. But there are very few signs of hope to be seen at the governmental level. Sarkozy, Merkel, Brown, Berlusconi; in private, they probably know how grave the situation is. But when the little red light goes on, they stare into the camera and tell us that Islam is a religion of peace, and we should all try to get along nicely and sing Kumbaya. They willingly participate in, what President Reagan so aptly called: “the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.”

If there is hope in Europe, it comes from the people, not from the elites. Change can only come from a grass-roots level. It has to come from the citizens themselves. Yet these patriots will have to take on the entire political, legal and media establishment.

Over the past years there have been some small, but encouraging, signs of a rebirth of the original European spirit. Maybe the elites turn their backs on freedom, the public does not. In my country, the Netherlands, 60 percent of the population now sees the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II. And another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat to our national identity. I don’t think the public opinion in Holland is very different from other European countries.

Patriotic parties that oppose jihad are growing, against all odds. My own party debuted two years ago, with five percent of the vote. Now it stands at ten percent in the polls. The same is true of all smililary-minded parties in Europe. They are fighting the liberal establishment, and are gaining footholds on the political arena, one voter at the time.

Now, for the first time, these patriotic parties will come together and exchange experiences. It may be the start of something big. Something that might change the map of Europe for decades to come. It might also be Europe’s last chance.
This December a conference will take place in Jerusalem. Thanks to Professor Aryeh Eldad, a member of Knesset, we will be able to watch Fitna in the Knesset building and discuss the jihad. We are organizing this event in Israel to emphasize the fact that we are all in the same boat together, and that Israel is part of our common heritage. Those attending will be a select audience. No racist organizations will be allowed. And we will only admit parties that are solidly democratic.

This conference will be the start of an Alliance of European patriots. This Alliance will serve as the backbone for all organizations and political parties that oppose jihad and Islamization. For this Alliance I seek your support
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This endeavor may be crucial to America and to the West. America may hold fast to the dream that, thanks to its location, it is safe from jihad and sharia. But seven years ago to the day, there was still smoke rising from ground zero, following the attacks that forever shattered that dream. Yet there is a danger even greater danger than terrorist attacks, the scenario of America as the last man standing. The lights may go out in Europe faster than you can imagine. An Islamic Europe means a Europe without freedom and democracy, an economic wasteland, an intellectual nightmare, and a loss of military might for America - as its allies will turn into enemies, enemies with atomic bombs. With an Islamic Europe, it would be up to America alone to preserve the heritage of Rome, Athens and Jerusalem.

Dear friends, liberty is the most precious of gifts. My generation never had to fight for this freedom, it was offered to us on a silver platter, by people who fought for it with their lives. All throughout Europe American cemeteries remind us of the young boys who never made it home, and whose memory we cherish. My generation does not own this freedom; we are merely its custodians. We can only hand over this hard won liberty to Europe’s children in the same state in which it was offered to us. We cannot strike a deal with mullahs and imams. Future generations would never forgive us. We cannot squander our liberties. We simply do not have the right to do so.

This is not the first time our civilization is under threat. We have seen dangers before. We have been betrayed by our elites before. They have sided with our enemies before. And yet, then, freedom prevailed.

These are not times in which to take lessons from appeasement, capitulation, giving away, giving up or giving in. These are not times in which to draw lessons from Mr. Chamberlain. These are times calling us to draw lessons from Mr. Churchill and the words he spoke in 1942:

“Never give in, never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy”.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Divorced Couple Feuding over Child's Religion --This Case was on 20/20

Article below is from the Religion Clause blog. What do YOU think?

Contempt Charged As Father Violates TRO On Daughter's Religious Training

Yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times reports on an ugly in-court battle in Chicago over a 3-year old's religious upbringing while her parents are going through a divorce. Joseph and Rebecca Reyes married in 2004. He was Catholic and she was Jewish. When their daughter was born several years later, Joseph converted to Judaism-- under pressure from his wife's family according to him. The couple disagrees over whether Joseph agreed to raise their daughter in the Jewish faith. After the couple separated in 2008, Joseph returned to his original Catholic faith. After not seeing his daughter for 7 months, Joseph went to court. The court allowed Joseph to take his daughter every other weekend and Thursdays for dinner. However in December, after Joseph sent Rebecca a picture of their daughter being baptized at a local Catholic church, Rebecca obtained a temporary restraining order from the court ordering Joseph not to expose their daughter to any religion other than Judaism.

Defying the order, last month Joseph took their daughter to Holy Name Cathedral, accompanied by a television news crew. Yesterday Joseph was arraigned on contempt charges. He could face up to 6 months in jail and a $500 fine. ABC News conducted a long interview with Joseph Reyes yesterday. (Full transcript).

I just saw this couple on 20/20 last night. It was clear that the formerly and again Catholic father had reason to suspect his Jewish ex-wife of marital infidelity before the divorce via email exchanges of hers. It was clear that he was making a public issue of fathers' rights to raise children in their faith --and that he is angry with her, PERIOD. And why not? She was unfaithful and he had to go to court to get visitation rights after 7 months.

But Mom said at the end of the program that she was willing to come to peaceful terms about the issue --when the interviewer questioned why she would want to put her child's father in jail for 6 months for violating a questionable court order . She initially seemed resolute, shedding what looked like crocodile tears about the fact that she is Jewish and should be able to raise her child AS Jewish, because she IS Jewish, and that the father should not contradict or confuse the child on the issue. Which is what her court case alleges.

She blames him for putting their child in a media spotlight --but one can understand why he did, because he has an inalienable right to tell his child about his faith and teach it to her --and he has a Christian obligation to do so--and even if he did it subtly, respectful of the child's Jewish heritage, this mother would eventually land him in court given her present view of her exclusive right to pass on only her faith to the child.

However, I believe the father should not have sent the picture. Evangelicals believe children are already candidates for heaven, based on Christ's statement. They leave baptism for the person who has made his own decision to follow Christ --regardless of age. By Catholic doctrine, I believe the father baptized the child because he believes it protects her for entrance to Heaven should anything happen to her. I believe his motivation in sending the photo, however, was not particularly "Christian."

We saw a similar case with Michael Newdow objecting to his wife raising her child Christian when he is atheist.

FACT: Divorce gives both parents rights --which should include religious rights. But they should not make the religious issue a war for the child to endure. If I were the father, I would teach my child that she IS Jewish by her Jewish mother and grandparents --no matter which faith she embraces. I would teach her to respect Judaism and teach her the Jewish Bible stories --and also teach her about the Jewish Messiah Jesus, in whom most Jews today do not believe --and would not present the difference in an inflammatory way --but just an educational one about the differences in the two religions. And most important, he needs to rise to the challenge of forgiving the ex enough to be cordial to her for the child's sake. But I wasn't sure Mom would be so cordial. After all, her value system seems to be askew regarding marriage and family, leading to this divorce.

When the child is a teen, if I had maintained before her a good Christian testimony and had a good relationship with her, I would take her to see the Jews for Jesus program, "Christ in the Passover," --as well as a Passion Play. And the Campus Crusade movie, "Jesus," and the one, "Jesus of Nazareth, " and maybe "The Passion." I would always build her up as special because of her Jewish heritage --and show respect for that heritage--as evangelical Christians do.



"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

From Prof Friedman on Why He Closed the Comments on His Blog

"The purpose of Religion Clause blog is to keep those interested in church-state and religious liberty developments up to date on legal developments and trends in a neutral manner and with extensive links to primary source materials. The comments in recent months have become lengthy debates on broad underlying issues-- along with increasing personal attacks among commenters. That kind of debate may be useful, but it is not the purpose of my blog. I have also been receiving increasing numbers of spam postings promoting sex sites and other commercial ventures. All of this meant that I was required to read 60 or more postings daily and make judgments on which ones were in such bad taste, or sufficiently defamatory, that they should be rejected. That detracts from the time I can spend locating and summarizing legal development.
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Obviously, the person who made the most personal attacks, helping to shut down the blog comments, is the one Mudrake who appeared there ONLY to make personal attacks against fundamentalist Christians, me in particular, and all the Anonymous Christian bloggers whom he insisted were me --but were not. It wasn't long after he found me posting there, that the undignified kids' stuff started. I had previously praised this blog for the ability of most all of its commenters to discuss controversy without ad hominem attacks --and then came Mudrake.

I'm told that there is a character in Pilgrim's Progress who is so busy scratching at the ground and through the cares of life with his MUDRAKE, that he fails to look up and see that someone is offering him a crown (The Crown of Life?) from above. How apt --and truly sad!

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

There are People Advocating for Freedom From Religion

To liberal folks, religious freedom means no public free expression of religion at public events where "we the people" are gathered. Their way establishes atheism, secular humanism, secularism --at the expense of a faith in a Supreme Being --which is no one religion but generic to most religions in our country.

Their way has religion police snoopervising and intimidating people at every public event --no prayer at banquets, at graduations, at gov't meetings, in schools, before games, etc. etc. etc.

No public manger scenes on public property--ultimately no angel decor, maybe no Christmas trees --ultimately no national religious holidays of Good Friday, Christmas, and Thanksgiving.

The people will feel led to pray, or say, "God Bless America!" or sing the 2nd verse of the national anthem, and the "wall of separation police" will be RIGHT THERE to march them off to jail or to slap a lawsuit and a fine on them.

Don't they have anything better to do than be such pains in the rump! ?

As for people "like you, Barb" being only 7 per cent of population according to one blogger--Not really. There are many more than that --count orthodox Jews and devout Catholics --and the 1/3 of Republicans said to be evangelicals -- (Did you know that only 13 percent by a recent poll want govt' healthcare to pay for abortions?)

We are prolife; we believe in God and free expression of faith; we believe in religious institutions being allowed to follow the Bible by their interpretations (with some limits --say on polygamy and other currently illegal pagan religious practices); we believe in traditional definition of marriage and no other; we believe in the Ten C's with some modification re: graven images and what we think was originally intended by the verse (preventing idolatry, and perhaps the tendency of artists to idolize man-made creations, other people and self?)

The Christians believe in Jesus as Son of God, Savior, Resurrected, Miracle-worker, Teacher. And we believe in His Great Commission--to preach the Gospel and make converts in His name --to tell the world about Jesus and how He came to save us for Eternity.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

The Bible --Word of God

The preponderance of evidence proves the Bible to be an amazing, remarkable Book --a history book about our Creator and His creation.

The other "holy books" cannot compare.

There is clear teaching by Christ. The Ten C's are clear. The Fruits of the Spirit are unquestionably desirable. Jesus' teachings on love and forgiveness tell us to love God, love neighbor as self, love brother, and love enemy. Pretty all-inclusive.

The Psalms are powerful --the letters to the church. The Book of Acts reads like it were happening today. An amazing story of the ups and downs of the early missionaries. The issues of belief vs. unbelief were the same then as now.

Jesus is clear on our obligation to the needy, to children, to widows, to prisoners, to all. He is clear on the need for humility about our righteousness and our need for repentance for sins. The Bible is clear on the nature of sin --right and wrong.

Isaiah 53 tells us about Jesus years before He came as the suffering servant who would be wounded for our transgressions. It is clear that Jesus is the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm as He claims to be and tells the parable of the one lost sheep out of 100 --who is of such worth that the shepherd will give his life to save him. John the Baptist introduced him as "the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Jesus is the shepherd of the sheep --and He is the Lamb of God --he is, in other words, both GOD, the LORD of the sheep --and MAN, the lamb of God who is slain for the sins of the world. The Son of Man is the Son of God.

It's remarkable, really.

Many different authors over thousands of years tell a cohesive story of God and His creation, man's sin and his redemption through a Messiah/Savior.

I cannot doubt it. As I grow old and consider mortality, I am grateful to the God of nature, blue skies, white clouds, white snow, beautiful sunlit days, this beautiful blue ball in the vast, vast universe. We are such a dot--and yet, all our cells are held together by the laminem molecule, shaped like a cross. (Google it.)

Myth? I don't think so.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Free Speech Denied to Valedictorians

From the Religion Clause blog (see my blogroll to get there)

Court Says School Can Insist Valedictorian Remove Religious References From Talk

A Montana trial court this week upheld the action of Butte High School officials in refusing to let one of the class' ten valedictorians speak at her 2008 graduation when she refused to remove religious references from her remarks. Yesterday's Billings Gazette reports that officials asked Renee Griffith to replace the words "Christ and his joy" with "my faith" and "from God with a passionate love for him" with the words "derived from my faith and based on a love of mankind." The court concluded that the school board policy barring religious references in graduation speeches is a policy applied even handedly to all students in order to maintain the religious neutrality required by the Establishment Clause. Griffith's attorney plans to appeal the decision to the Montana Supreme Court, arguing that Griffith was not going to be speaking on the school's behalf, but wanted to express her own personal beliefs.

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My Opinion:

This is just ridiculous. It's state infringement on freedom of speech. A school should bar students from ridiculing people in these speeches --and they should bar students from obscenity in such speeches --but they should never interfere with free religious speech --especially in these non-proselytizing remarks in praise of Jesus Christ. A whole speech could be on the wonderful love, compassion and forgiveness teachings of Christ as a fine guide for future success in life --the success that matters in our relationships. And that would not be telling people to convert.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Maryland Will Likely Recognize Gay Marriage from Other States

From www.Religion Clause.blogspot.com:

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has issued a 55-page Attorney General's Opinion concluding that same-sex marriages validly entered in other states may be recognized in Maryland. The opinion (94 Op. Att'y. Gen. 3, Feb. 23, 2010) says in part:
While the matter is not free from all doubt, in our view, the Court is likely to respect the law of other states and recognize a same-sex marriage contracted validly in another jurisdiction. In light of Maryland's developing public policy concerning intimate same sex relationships, the Court would not readily invoke the public policy exception to the usual rule of recognition.Three Catholic Archbishops of Maryland issued a joint statement (full text) criticizing the ruling. Today's Baltimore Sun reports on developments.

DistributeWealth said...
Good for Maryland. The march toward equality for gay people takes another step forward.Conservatives, in the form of the three archbishops, are again fighting a rearguard action. (Fellas, the train has already left the station; you're too late.) In the future, the history of the immorality of the conservative Christian churches on this issue should be required reading for all high school students. People should know who was right and who was wrong, so there can be an accounting.
Thu Feb 25, 04:43:00 PM EST

Barb said...
Come on, People! There is no reason to override other states' constitutions on the definition of marriage. There is no reason to make "legal" intimate relations between same sex people. WHAT IS THE REASON FOR IT??? It is perversion and ought to be discouraged, not made equal to normal, traditional, natural, potentially procreative relationships.We need to help children avoid this lifestyle and quit pushing it as a wonderful civil right!
Thu Feb 25, 04:50:00 PM EST

mud_rake said...
Salem Witch Trials.
Fri Feb 26, 08:58:00 AM EST

Notice the substantive response of commenter no. 3. Who is suggesting witch hunts or burning anyone at the stake??






"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

The Constitution Does Not Guarantee a Right to Homosexual Conduct or Marriage

Yes, the constitution gives us all the same rights. But show me the right to homosexuality in the constitution.

Marriage is the union of a man and a woman and homosexual men and women may enter that kind of relationship if they wish --and it will be better for them and better for all of society, for any children they conceive (and they do), for any hetero spouse they marry, if they take advantage of their constitutional right to find a spouse of the opposite sex and found a family with her --or him in case of a lady --and remain faithful. In fact, if they remain virginal before marriage and NEVER start into homosexual relations, I predict they'll not likely see themselves as homosexual.

The Constitution neither explicitly nor implicitly, legitimates adultery, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, polygamy/bigamy/polyandry, transgendering, rape or homosexual behaviors and gay marriage.

There are universal moral laws beyond our Constitution --and some man-made laws derived from our constitution, which govern our sexuality and our sexual relationships. Homosexuality involves abnormal ways to copulate--which have proven to be highly risky to the participants and harmful to public health. We spend a lot of money trying to cure and manage STD's and promote condoms and gay "marriage" without addressing the actual problem --the abnormal, promiscuous, risky, homosexual activities themselves.

The "right to privacy" is limited in what it can legalize. Most of us know that privacy does NOT mean doing whatever we please between consenting adults in private --including abortion--and other crimes done in private. (Yes, I know about Roe vs. Wade --judicial activism legitimizing the killing of our children against the vote of the people and the laws of the states. )

The Bible talks about "unjust judges" and we've got them. They may give us gay marriage eventually as they gave us abortion (by a vote of 5 to 4?) --but it will never be moral or right or safe or monogamous or accepted by the masses. (At least I hope it won't --for that will be the beginning of the end when all the people are swinging both ways.)

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Gays in the Military? No People of Opposite Sexual Attraction Should Share Intimate Quarters

Mudrake has kindly dug up one of my old letters to the Blade which is timely since Obama has advocated for gays in the military.

Letters to the Editor


Thursday, March 22, 2007

Moral people will flee temptation


Gen. Peter Pace spoke for millions worldwide when he said homosexual
acts are immoral like adultery. Why? Because both are temptations
that ought to be resisted at the first thought. Moral people flee
temptation. (No, Oprah and Montel, homosexuality is not genetic or
inevitable.)

I read that 16 universities offer co-ed dorm rooms and anyone may
sign up for them, not just dating couples, but strangers. Some rooms
practically had revolving doors with people frequently changing
roommates for current girl/boyfriends. This is as crazy as the co-ed
bathroom phenomenon.

We who object to co-ed rooms in colleges also object to out-of-closet
gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders (the GLBTs) in barracks
and military bathrooms. It is simply immoral to put unmarried people
of opposite attraction together in intimate quarters.

Just as a moral and responsible father wouldn't want his daughter to
share a dorm room with a man who would naturally and likely be
tempted to jump into bed with her, he also wouldn't want his son to
have to share quarters with anyone (male or female) who is tempted to
jump into bed with him.

So why not let the GLBTs all room together in the military? Because
they are sexually attracted and tempted by each other, of course.
It's unnatural to expect to throw attracted young people together in
intimate quarters without an eventual breach in moral conduct.

With that breach comes tremendous risk for emotional trauma,
pregnancy, disease, jealousy, fights, break-ups, infidelity to
spouses and sweethearts back home - all the traditional harms of
immorality not conducive to troop morale and cohesiveness.

General Pace should stick by his guns, and the liberal media should
get real and withdraw theirs.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

EMAIL from HAITIAN RESCUER

This is email from my friend's friend --the rescuer:


From a friend that just got back from Haiti

To All;

I just returned from Haiti with Hebler. We flew in at 3 AM
Sunday to the Scene of such incredible destruction on one side, and enormous
Ineptitude and criminal neglect on the other.

Port of Prince is in
ruins. The rest of the country is fairly intact.Our Team was a rescue team and
we carried special equipment that locates People buried under the rubble. There
are easily 200,000 dead, the city Smells like a charnal house.

The
bloody UN was there for 5 years doing Apparently nothing but wasting US
Taxpayers money.

The ones I ran into Were either incompetent or
outright anti American.

Most are French or French speakers,
worthless every damn one of them.

While 1800 rescuers were ready
willing and able to leave the airport and go do our jobs, the UN and USAID
(another organization full of little OBamites and Communists that openly speak
against America!!)

These two organizations Exemplared their
parochialism by:

USAID, when in control of all inbound flights,
had food and water Flights stacked up all the way to Miami, yet allowed Geraldo
Rivera, Anderson Cooper and a host of other left wing news puppies to land!!

Pulled all the security off the rescue teams so that Bill Clinton
and His wife could have the grand tour, whilst we sat unable to get to People
trapped in the rubble!!!

Stacked enough food and water for the
relief over at the side of the Airfield then put a guard on it while we were
dehydrated and they wouldn't release 1 drop of it to the rescuers.

No shower facilities to decontaminate after digging or moving
corpses All day, except for the FEMA teams who brought their own shower and
Decon equipment, as well as air conditioned tents.

No latrine
facilities, less digging a hole if you set up a shitter Everyone was trying to
use it.

I watched a 25 year old Obamite with the USAID shrieking
hysterically, Berated a full bird colonel in the US air force, because he
countermanded Her orders, whilst trying to unscrew the air pattern. She said,
"You don't know What your president wants! The military isn't in charge here we
are!"

If any of you are thinking of giving money to the Haitian
relief, or to The UN don't waste your money. It will only go to further the
goals of The French and the Liberal left.

If we are a fair and
even society, why is it that only white couples are Adopting Haitian orphans.
Where the hell is that vocal minority that is Always screaming about the
injustice of American society.

Bad place, bad situation, but a
perfect look at the new world order in Action. New Orleans magnified a thousand
times.

Haiti doesn't need Democracy, what Haiti needs is Papa Doc.
That's not just my opinion , That is what virtually every Haitian we talked with
said.

The French run The UN, treat us the same as when we
were a colony, at least Papa Doc Ran the country.

Oh, and as a
last slap in the face the last four of us had to take US AIRWAYs home from
Phoenix. They slapped me with a 590 dollar baggage Charge for the four of us.
The girl at the counter was almost in tears Because she couldn't give us a
discount or she would lose her job. Pass That on to the flying
public.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Should we "Indoctrinate our Children" into our Religions?

At the Religion Clause blog, a commenter said it was immoral to indoctrinate our children into our religions. That we should be sure they have freedom to choose their faith.

Now why would a child choose my faith if I taught it as suggested:

"Citronella, I'm a Christian --I believe in Jesus --but it's OK with me if
you decide to be Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist or atheist --even though I think
Jesus is the only way to eternal life and the path to our Creator God. I
love you enough to encourage you to consider the truth-claims of other religions
so that you can be deceived by wolves in sheep's clothing and go to Hell --or
experience eternal death without God."

What good parent would do this to his child? Not me. At the same time, we Christians KNOW that belief is a choice, and I cannot force my child to believe --but I CAN LIVE AND TEACH my faith and choose a good Biblical church that will make Christian faith and Community the best lifestyle and most credible ideology among all competitors.If I live as though my faith is fake, I can do damage to my children. If I can't love and forgive and be compassionate, then my children will see my faith as shallow -and question its authenticity.

Just because people are evangelicals/fundamentalists or whatever, doesn't guarantee they will always "be Christian" as they should be. (Obviously) But the light is there, the way is clear --it's up to us whether or not we follow.

"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible

Hysterectomy at Toledo Hospital --(a sort of diary entry)

This is not exactly lovely --depending on how "earthy" and candid you are about health issues --so you may not want to read.

You might appreciate it more if you read my older blog on this topic--about the lab report that followed me to church one day.

I am home again, back at the computer. They did find cancer (well-differentiated (that's good, I'm told) adenocarcinoma) of the endometrium (uterine lining) which was starting to invade the muscular wall of the uterus but it had not gone anywhere else, not to the lymph nodes. They also removed cervix, ovaries and fallopian tubes --no cancers there. Dr. Phibbs, a great Ohio gynecologist /oncologist, was very confident that I needed no further treatments. But in blood work they decided I am just starting to be borderline diabetic and to have hypothyroidism --both common as changes to women my age, I've heard. Dr. Phibbs said meds for hypothyroidism would probably give me more energy and he expected to see me shopping next week! Well, he doesn't know me too well, I guess --because I'm not crazy to shop even in the best of health --unless you give me a scooter to ride! But even then I don't initiate shopping trips.

I marvel at the wonderful bedside manner of medical personnel --it's no wonder they are often beloved . We know that we are a dime a dozen as patients to healthcare people --but they seem to take personal interest and maintain genuine caring and warmth to all their patients.

I kept everybody busy -- as I guess all the hysterectomy patients do -because, at first, we can hardly get in and out of bed by ourselves, reach the sheets to pull them up, reach anything due to the pain of movement -- or do certain sanitary cleansing functions very well for ourselves. And my room had no shower facility --just some common showers in our hallway. We have this little bag hanging out from the stitches --to collect extraneous bodily fluids from inside our bodies. I went through one of those and then they started a different system. The first one was leaky --so I would go to the bathroom and accidenally put pressure on this little bag, and I had fluids flying down my legs and onto the floor! It was TERRIBLE!!! And I could barely reach the floor to mop up anything myself. Then the 2nd one started to leak.

Now we can't figure out how to empty this little substitute colostomy bag (the purpose says our surgical tech daughter in law, is to siphon off the fluids from the incision for faster/better healing. The doctor will remove it completely at his office if I get less than 100 cc's in a 24 hour day. She left before we tried to empty it. So Jon called hospital nurse on how to empty this thing-- it has a little valve with a wing nut and we watched the nurse do it --but it won't produce any fluid for us --My question is: can the fluid that comes out --run back in through the tube to which it is attached, stitched in to the stitches, when I lie on my left side? I think they want the container used to hang straight down --but when that thing leaked, they substituted with something that has to be fastened and drain more horizontally --and I thought it would be good to empty often, as we go --so the fluid doesn't back up. ( Does this make you sick? It does me!!! Why should I suffer alone? ) The incision, btw, looks like a zipper with a neat little vertical row of staples --and is starting to irritate here and there.

When I woke up from surgery, I found I had this stretchy wrap around my middle --fastened with velcro, and perforated for air --sort of a corrugated girdle --that helps to support the muscles and keep one from jostling about --no pulling on the incision. Helps with pain despite it's inherent discomforts. they would loosen it to look at the incision and then girdle me up again. But one day I noticed my skin was corrugating with the girdle -- I had a terrible rash from it --and so can't wear it anymore.

In my hospital room, I really struggled if the phone rang or if I needed help and wasn't near any of the call-nurse buttons. The call nurse thingy is on the TV remote --attached to one side of the bed. I'd feel an urge to "go" and start out of the bed and find my legs were wrapped up in cords and velcro for the blood-clot prevention system. I couldn't reach anything to undo them myself and so was stuck until I desperately figured out a solution --or a nurse popped in. Then one time I got into bed at great personal discomfort and adjusting of the high and low ends of the bed to help me avoid pain, and there was a sharp, short yellow pencil right under my legs --and I couldn't reach it. So I had to maneuver painfully out of the bed after maneuvering painfully to get IN it--and then the pencil fell to the floor.

I was supposed to use the pencil to fill out my menus. But as it was, between the doc and the nursing staff, they were saying liquid diet --no, solid diet, alternately --trying to figure out what I needed --and once I even got 2 meals! And no appetite the whole 5 days.

I had a portable commode in my room that I was encouraged to use if I didn't think I was going to make it to the regular bathroom. I got seated, did my bizznezz, and grabbed f0r the toilet paper and it fell down and rolled over an unsanitary floor to the bathroom. I could only helplessly grab at the end and pull it toward me as it unrolled.

When they took me off of the IV's and the morphine --(which made me chatter gaily with my visitors --but not hallucinate), I went through terrible nausea with the Percocettes and the Darvocets they tried on me --and cried out for Dr. Kevorkian! Not really. But nausea is probably my most depressing experience when I dare to think death might be preferable --after all, I often tell my husband, "I have lived!" And "I do not suffer well," and I won't be disappointed if God takes me swiftly some day --except for all the loving people, good family and church times,weddings and graduations, ministries, family and church music missed.

In abdominal surgery, they handle your intestines, and sometimes it seems the intestines will think they should just lie down and die because human beings touched them --like some mother birds and animals who won't touch their young if humans come around. So the doctors have us taking all sorts of medicines to promote bowel activity, tell us to pick up our emptied, stitched bodies and march down the halls to get any pent-up gas moving. (Like a trumpeting marching band, I guess! ) Some of the pain meds made my mouth stick together and killed my appetite. I was taking a cocktail of pills for this and that--and almost as bad as nausea was the eventual diahhrea which they say is common due to the IV antibiotics and the medicine to promote digestion and bowel activity. When the move would come, I had no choice but to dribble across the floor --it was like what we used to call "baby diaper mustard." Perhaps it's because the bowels are starting over and they act like new born bodies. We start on liquid diets and then go to soft foods --and then the Hard stuff!

Today, my first evening home since last Tuesday, my worst experiences are coughing or sneezing (though I don't seem to be ill) --hurts the stitches --and I'm feeling the stitches more than ever before. And I hate wearing that little bag -it's a colostomy bag of some sort. But I'm living to tell you ALL about it, welcome or not.

I had two C sections before this, so I remember a lot of it from before --and can you imagine, then we also took home a baby to care for. It probably made for a speedy recovery.

Right now, my babies are grown up and are helping to care for their mother. John & Charlotte are working and baking favorite things in the kitchen, John made up my special rented bed in the sun room where his Grandma also sleeps -- as I DARE NOT have those diarrhea spells on our carpeting --it would be so hard to clean--and there is so little warning for them. And I can't bend over to clean them myself! I won't have to climb steps for several weeks this way--but I will probably go up stairs sooner when I'm sure I'm safe for the carpeting!

One thing I don't get, they tell me not to lift more then 5 pounds during the next few weeks --and take it easy--but walk around the house a lot. Yet, if I get into my bed, I'm putting the strain of DEFINITELY over 100 pounds on my musculature/the incision, etc.

We rented this hospital bed from the hospital --and it has guard rails the full length of the bed both sides --and is hard. To get in the bed is a pain. I've figured out no easy, painless way to do it --and lifting the head of the bed doesn't help since the guard rail ends up going up with it and has to be traversed by painful means.

At the hospital, our 4 visited us. plus the minister (twice), Courtney and Inga, (Courtney and the minister kept Rob and Jon company through the surgery. Steph and her boys and Rob looked out for my mother and brought her up to see me at the hospital. I got 7 bouquets of flowers --you would have thought it was a funeral. Beautiful floral arrangement including tulips, a promise of spring.

And the beautiful church is bringing meals every other night for a couple of weeks --just to look out for a family in their "family." Tonight was Patty's B's delicious chili and cornbread --I ate light, being a good girl --and avoided beans! They often do this ministry for church people if they hear of their upcoming surgeries.

Church --a caring community within the larger, impersonal community. Can't over-recommend it.

As for hysterectomies --well, I can't exactly recommend them, but if you need one, it will be worth it all. When we think of what Jesus suffered willingly for us, seems I could put up with my nausea and pain. I also thought of our soldiers who have suffered so terribly, receiving disabilities for life because some people think suicide bombing and roadside, market-place terrorism is pleasing to God. One thing about Depression and Nausea --they are both typically self-limiting. You will get thru it!!

Despite my criticisms of these indignities of life, Am. health care is amazing, probably the leader in providing the most advanced care for most of their citizens. Our country would be glad to be the health-care providers of the world --if the warriors would just QUIT their murderous ways, their oppression and suppression of freedom and democracy. Warring is the one area of human development in which most of the world has not made any progress, at all, sad to say. Refusing to defend anyone, letting the Pol Pots and Hitler rule, is not the solution. What the world needs most --besides sanitary engineers --is good ol' Gospel Revival and evangelistic ministries.




"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible